An assessment of the multi-scalar risks and mitigative responses of Arctic cruise shipping

The rapid growth of Arctic cruise ship operations, driven by climate change-induced sea ice melt and increasing tourism demand, has raised significant concerns regarding the risks of such activities. This literature review synthesises the academic and grey literature published between January 2010 and April 2026 to address two research questions: (1) How do the risks of Arctic cruise ship operations and related touristic activities manifest across micro, meso, and macro scales? (2) How effectively do existing regulations and practices mitigate these risks, and where do critical gaps remain from a tourism management perspective? The study identifies risks pertaining to five interconnected domains: environmental, socio-cultural, economic, regulatory/governance, and safety/operational. Environmental risks are paramount, as cruise ships may contribute to marine pollution through fuel emissions, wastewater discharge, and potential oil spills, threatening fragile Arctic ecosystems and biodiversity. The Arctic region's extreme weather, unpredictable ice conditions, and limited search and rescue infrastructure exacerbate navigational and safety risks, endangering passengers and crew. The study discusses the need for enhanced risk management strategies to avoid the pitfalls of governance inversion, including stricter environmental regulations, improved emergency response capabilities, and sustainable tourism models that ensure Indigenous involvement and consent. The main novelty of this paper and its theoretical contribution to the academic literature concerns its advancement of a multi-level framework that illuminates cross and multi-scale risk interactions through an Arctic cruise ship context. The study's broader implication is not that findings from the Arctic can be mechanically generalised to all tourism contexts, but that the Arctic provides a useful case for examining a wider management challenge facing environmentally sensitive and rapidly changing destinations, in particular, how to reconcile tourism development with ecological protection, community interests, resilience, and effective multi-level governance.