Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
up to one day. However, there is potential for this sector to be integrated with
other forms of transport to form individual trip chains on a larger journey. The
small-scale cruise sector operates on the sea, rivers and lakes. In many contexts,
trips are seasonal and can be weather-dependent. Cruises may also be inte-
grated with ferry operations, and many ferry operators sell underutilized space
as day cruises. For example, Brittany Ferries offer day excursions on selected
sailings from the UK to the Channel Islands and France. In Norway, there are
many such cruises up fjords that also have the potential to develop as oppor-
tunities for slow travel. There is some ambiguity with this sector with respect
to its utility as a form of travel, as opposed to a destination-based experience;
however, as with ferries, there is scope for smaller-scale cruises to play a role
in slow travel.
In many countries of the world there exist extensive canal and river net-
works. Since the demise of freight transport on many smaller canal networks
(freight travel is still strong on larger rivers in Europe, the Americas and Asia),
this has opened up opportunities for the tourism sector to develop barge and
cruise holidays. Within Europe there are 16,000km of navigable waterways
and these are popular in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the
UK (Erfurt-Cooper, 2009). River travel is also popular in Asia, such as the
Yangtze River in China (Arlt and Feng, 2009). German river cruises increased
by 168 per cent between 1996 and 2003 (Erfurt-Cooper, 2009). Reiter (cited
in Erfurt-Cooper, 2009, p103) suggests: 'river cruising allows participants to
“halve the speed and double your perception and awareness”'. This implies
good experiential opportunities to engage with the landscape en route.
Tourists on canal barge holidays travel at a particularly slow pace, often little
faster than walking. This significantly limits both the distance that can be trav-
elled and the resultant carbon footprint. On this basis, barge holidays
encapsulate the elements of slow travel.
Commercial shipping
A final category of cruising is linked to commercial shipping. While most peo-
ple associate cruise holidays with the cruise liner, designed specifically with
tourists in mind, it is possible to take a cruise on board a cargo vessel, and
even to travel around the world. Travelling on a cargo vessel is different to a
typical cruise. While the cabins are of a high standard, there is much less in
the way of recreation facilities on board, and travellers are advised to bring
topics and so on to while away the time, as there are no scheduled activities.
Facilities also vary, with some providing swimming pools, a gym, lounge,
books and films (Johnson, 2007). Cargo vessels will visit ports not typically
on a tourist's itinerary, and this provides opportunities for authentic insights
into the countries visited. There are also itineraries available to almost any
destination in the world (Johnson, 2007).
A number of travel agents specialize in cruises on cargo vessels (see, for
example, freightercruises.com or cruisepeople.co.uk). For instance, Freighter
World Cruises was established in 1975. Their figures suggest freighter cruises
have increased in popularity since this time, as more cabin space has become
available through technological changes requiring smaller crews (Freighter
