River cruise tourism and the environmental protection of the Rhine. Exploring policy arrangements and river cruise companies' practices related to plastics
Keywords
Loading...
Authors
Issue Date
2021-11-19
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
Since 2013, the river cruise sector is booming in Europe, especially Romantic Rhine cruises are very popular among tourists. However, these tourism operations generate large amounts of waste. There is a research gap regarding Rhine River cruise companies’ practices related to plastics. To gain insights into these practices, first the political arena in which these vessels operate is investigated by applying the Policy Arrangement Approach introduced by Arts, van Tatenhove and Leroy (2000). The practices are explored with the help of the Social Practice Theory of Shove, Pantzar and Watson (2012). The results of this study revealed that the market took responsibility for the river cruise sectors’ management of waste as state regulation in this area is limited. Moreover, the regulations inconsistency between harbours and lack of a dense network of waste facilities along the international waterways is a deterrent. Passengers may add to the plastic waste problem by flushing feminine hygiene products down the toilets on a structural basis. Policy recommendations are developed for Rijkswaterstaat, the actor responsible for water quality, so that the plastic waste influx in the Rhine River diminishes, and that tourism and environmental protection of the Rhine converge for the greater good of our planet.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen