THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF LARGE SHIPS ON THE TERRITORY, ON THE COAST AND ON THE SEA: THE MSC CRUISES CASE STUDY

Cruise tourism is expanding almost everywhere, despite the pandemic generated by COVID-19 in this sector as well. According to estimates and reported by the CLIA (2021), between mid-March and September 2020, the economic damage was around 77 billion dollars, with a loss of jobs that exceed 500 000. The CLIA itself, however, records a significant increase in travelers who aspire to join a cruise, even among those who have never been there. Cruise ships and their economic impact have been the subject of research for many years and the data, which can also be obtained from various agencies and shipping companies, denote the importance of this particular sector, in the more general context of tourism. It is therefore increasingly appropriate to direct research towards an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary analysis that considers the concept of environmental impact (now in many cases somewhat emptied of its deep meaning and become a sort of opportunistic slogan), so as to consider, in addition to the economic aspects, also the anthropogeographic ones (both negative and positive). In fact, the opportunity to enrich the technical and organizational changes required by the pandemic with second thoughts that also have a cultural impact, in addition to the usual environmental impact, is a delightful opportunity. Through the MSC case study, this contribution aims to partecipate in the reflection on the theme of sustainability, which is also abused lexically, to look at the possibility of directing cruise tourism towards a new way of introducing Man into the landscape.