Jamaica for Sale, a documentary about tourism & unsustainable development, takes a sharp look at the environmental, economic, and social impacts of tourism such as: degraded water quality and shoreline habitats, depleted marine species, poorly regulated large-scale development that relies on low-wage, unskilled local labor, and uncontrolled development of an industry that leads to inflation in land and housing prices, and consumes large amounts of local natural resources.

The current economic situation and its impact on the industry was “the hot topic” at the 2009 Annual Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami, though discussions on the impact cruise tourism has on the environment “was not covered enough,” reports this article by Vacation and Cruising. Fuel consumption by cruise ships, which includes energy use for laundry, restaurants, leisure club activities, water and waste treatment, can, according to a 2008 study, be nearly three times those of the new Airbus A380.