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France could soon implement a new cruise ship tax for foreign visitors, which would require cruise ship travellers to shell out €15 per person for each French port call.
It’s estimated that the levy could bring in around €75 million a year, which could be used to conserve the country’s vulnerable coastal areas.
Cruise travel to France has continued to increase exponentially in the last few years. Mainland France saw an estimated more than 3.8 million cruise passengers pass through in 2023, according to the French government tourism agency, Atout France.
When could France’s cruise tax be introduced?
The new tax is expected to follow a “polluter pays” model, which seeks to transfer both pollution and prevention costs onto the polluters themselves, rather than the other people affected. It is also part of France’s wider 2026 budget.
This move follows Cannes’ recent decision to ban all cruise ships with more than 1,000 passengers from its harbour from 1 January next year. Similarly, Nice has also limited the number of cruise ships to 65 annually.
The French Senate has already voted in favour of the tax, with Senator Jean-Marc Delia citing the seven million tonnes of CO2 emitted by cruise ships in Europe every year as motivation for tabling it, according to The Local.
According to a report by campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E), Carnival cruise line emitted more CO2 in 2023 than the Scottish city of Glasgow.
However, France’s current centrist government has objected to the levy, raising concerns about the difficulty of differentiating between ferries and cruise ships. The Assemblée nationale will now need to consider the motion before it can be passed into law. It is expected to announce its decision later in December.
European countries clamp down on cruise ships
France is the latest European country to announce measures against cruise ships, following similar decisions in the last few months by Greece and Norway. Cruise ships have been accused of waste discharge, greenwashing and higher pollution in vulnerable coastal areas in recent years.
Greece has implemented a climate crisis resilience fee for cruise ships, with higher, €20 levies for popular spots like Mykonos and Santorini and lower levies of €5 for other destinations.
Norway also now lets municipalities add a 3 per cent tourism tax on cruise ship arrivals, in order to support local communities and cover overtourism costs.
Cities like Amsterdam and Lisbon are using higher cruise and tourist taxes to balance visitor impact and fund city improvements, too.