Cruise lines are increasingly snatching up private islands and beaches as port cities become miserably overcrowded

• After the pandemic, travelers are returning to vacation destinations in full force.
• Popular cruise spots are facing overcrowding, especially when multiple cruises visit an island.

One of the main draws of a cruise is the picture-perfect calm it promises to provide its travelers — sandy beaches and serene seas outside, luxury indoors.

But what can you do when tourist overcrowding threatens that calm? For cruise lines, private beaches and islands increasingly look like the answer.

The idea of purchasing private land for a cruise company isn't new — Norwegian first purchased land in the Bahamas to develop in the late 1970s — but it is becoming more popular, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Now, multiple companies are buying, leasing, or looking for land in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, and the developments are only picking up speed. Cruise companies are putting tens of millions of dollars into buying and building extravagant properties, analysts told the Journal, which reported that developing Royal Caribbean's CocoCay cost about $250 million.

Other companies aren't far behind. Carnival Cruise Line is opening its private Celebration Key in mid-2025; Disney Cruise Line is sending visitors to Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point in June 2024.

The islands give the cruise lines the ability to meet their customer's expectations of privacy and calm while making the extra money they wouldn't make at public ports, according to Condé Nast Traveler. When the line owns the entire island, they get the profits from drinks, food, or activities their passengers might take part in.

Even more than that, the private islands provide a sense of luxury and wealth.

"They provide a sense of exclusivity to everyone," Beth Butzlaff, an employee at the travel firm Virtuoso, told Condé Nast Traveler. "Nothing says luxury more than being able to say 'I spent a day on a private island.'"

However, new problems can arise when tourism industries move away from the cities and countries that rely on their business.

Tourism economies are a balancing act between travel companies and local infrastructures, where companies usually come out on top, according to the BBC.

The industry provides thousands of jobs to locals, which contributes to economic stability. In the Caribbean region, many economies are highly dependent on tourism — according to a report published in the International Monetary Fund's journal, it makes up between 7% to 90% of local GDPs.

If local jobs are pulled away, though, by tourism companies outsourcing labor, the impact on local communities can be devastating, per the BBC.

The economic impacts are exacerbated by potential environmental impacts.

Marcie Keever, who heads the NGO Friends of the Earth, told Reuters developments by companies like Disney in the Bahamas do not properly address issues of over-tourism and environmental impact.

"How many cruise ships are planned? What is the plan to expand if they do develop? What will this mean on a weekly basis for the region? There is nothing in the [environmental impact assessment] on the impact of the massive number of people on these ships," Keever told Reuters.

Disney did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.