Photo / Laurie Schreiber
Sarah Flink
May 5, 2023
Maine’s cruise ship season kicks off on a gray day in Bar Harbor
File photo / Laurie Schreiber
Bar Harbor is in the midst of a dispute over the impact of cruise ship tourism. This file photo shows a ship that visited a previous year.
Bar Harbor’s cruise season kicked off Thursday with the arrival of the 965-foot Norwegian Pearl on a cold, gray day.
There was also a bit of ceremony, organized by a local group called the Association to Preserve + Protect Local Livelihoods, to welcome the Norwegian Pearl’s captain, Johan Stofling, and to discuss the economic impact of the cruise industry on the local and state economy.
The 10-minute gathering near the town wharf took place while the town is in the midst of a dispute over whether the number of cruise ships and their passengers strains resources, or if they are a welcome source of tourism-related revenue.
Last November, in a 1,780 to 1,273 vote, residents backed a citizen-initiated amendment to the town’s land use-ordinance placing a 1,000-person daily limit on the number of people who could disembark; the previous daily limit was 5,500. Bar Harbor has been booking over 150 ships in recent years. On some days, two or three ships arrive in port; many carry several thousand passengers.
The Association to Preserve + Protect Local Livelihoods, a group of Bar Harbor businesses and residents, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the town the following month, seeking to reverse the disembarkation limit, contending it would crush the tourism-based economy and result in the loss of jobs and businesses.
On Thursday, Kristi Bond, the association’s president and co-owner of a number of local businesses, said the association stands for a “reasonably balanced approach to tourism.”
"Whether a bartender or harbor pilot, a small business owner, or a lobster harvester, hospitality revenue benefits the community in a big way,” said Bond. “It supports new schools, takes care of our roads and infrastructure, and helps preserve and strengthen our working waterfront," said Bond.
The industry brings visitors to Maine from across the U.S., with 24% coming from international markets, said Sarah Flink, executive director of CruiseMaine, a membership organization that’s part of the Maine Office of Tourism.
“There are numerous people working today who weren’t working yesterday because of this cruise ship visiting,” Bo Jennings, general manager of the Side Street Café in Bar Harbor and a town council candidate, said of the Norwegian Pearl’s arrival.
Bar Harbor has booked 129 ships carrying 239,000 passengers this year.
According to a 2016 study conducted by the town of Bar Harbor, cruise ship passengers had an estimated annual economic impact, including multiplier effects, of $20.2 million in local spending, 379 full- and part-time and seasonal jobs, and $5.4 million in labor income.
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