First step to increasing cruise ship fees in Newport gets OK. See how much they could go up
Next summer’s wave of cruise ships may see higher per-passenger fees for docking and disembarking from the City of Newport following a recently passed bill in the House of Representatives.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 8027, which will allow the City of Newport to increase the fees cruise ships have to pay in order to land and disembark from the City of Newport. Reps. Laura Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport) and Marvin Abney (D-Dist 73, Newport) co-sponsored the legislation which was requested by the Newport City Council in a resolution earlier this year.
“Cruise ship stopovers in Newport are a unique part of our tourism industry,” Carson said in a press release on the House vote. “While they each can bring well over 1,000 visitors into the city at once, those passengers already have a place to stay and a place to eat on board the ship, so landing and embarking fees represent most of the revenue the city can make. Newport needs to invest considerably in our infrastructure to keep our city a safe, resilient and attractive place for our residents and visitors alike, so bringing this fee up to the level that other coastal cities charge is a sensible way to help raise revenue without burden to taxpayers.”
Currently, cruise ships pay $6 per passenger when they make a stop in Newport, $3 for landing and $3 more for boarding for when the ship embarks from the city docks. This fee was established in 2014, having been raised from the $2 per passenger per stop cruise ships had to pay when the legislature established the fees in 1999.
Suppose the Senate passes its sister bill 2024-S 302, sponsored by Sens. Dawn Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown) and Louis DiPalma (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, Tiverton). In that case, the city will be able to increase the total fee to $20 per passenger, $10 on landing and $10 for boarding to embark from the city.
While $10 is the maximum to which the city can raise its cruise ship fees, Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong assured the General Assembly during a hearing on the item that the fee would be increased over several years, with the first increase to $6 imposed in the next 18 months, after the current wave of cruise ships passes through. He said the additional revenue will be enough to support the capital improvements made to Perrotti Park, where these cruise ships typically dock.
Set a course for adventure: 'Love Boat' cast reuniting for cruise – and a stop in Newport
Last year, 56 cruise ships made stops in the city according to testimony from Khamsyvoravong during the General Assembly hearing on the bill in April. This year, they expect 65 ships, carrying over 110,000 passengers. Khamsyvoravong explained to the House Committee on Municipal Government and Housing that the influx of tourists these ships bring, while welcome, significantly impacts the city, especially its roads and infrastructure. Additionally, he noted that while Newport is one of the highest-rated cruise destinations in the Northeast, its fees are significantly less than its peers, such as Bar Harbor, Maine; Rockland, Maine; Halifax, Nova Scotia and Boston, which charge $13, $10, $11.50 and $23 each way, respectively.
“We are certainly within market,” Khamsyvoravong said. “It is time for us to catch up, and in Newport, we’re looking at dedicating those funds to the waterfront infrastructure that’s serving this industry.”
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport moves closer to increasing cruise ship passenger fees
