The mayor of Bora Bora Island (Society Islands, French Polynesia) is pushing for a ban of large cruise liners from entering the lagoon from 2022. Gaston Tong Sang has written to both the president and tourism minister asking them to relay that at the Seatrade Cruise Global fair in Miami FL.
That gave cruise companies time to adjust their programs, he said.
3-time president Tong Sang said he expected the government to understand that vessels carrying thousands of guests were too large for the lagoon and were "a shock to the established tourism sector." He added the large ships' engines stressed the environment, polluted the air, and disturbed marine life. Sang also said Bora Bora, which is with limited capacity, used to offer 1000 tourist beds but lost a total of 300 following the 2008 crisis.
However, the mayor revealed he was not opposed to voyages and praised plans by Ponan Cruises to use ships with passenger capacity around 300 and using electric motors after entering the lagoon.