It is the "local economy" only if you believe in trickle-down economics.
The area of visited by cruise ship tourists is typically a very small fraction of the port city. Worse, the establishments in that area only account for a small fraction of the overall local employment, and are owned by a handful of families or (worse) funds/corporations.
So money does flow, but not really to the local economy, apart from a number of low-paid service jobs.
You also appear to have a very outdated view of cruise ship tourism. What "rich tourists"? These days it is the less well-off that go on cruises, even choosing to cruise through their retirement as the cheaper option [1]. Nobody is going to make expensive purchases as they have already visited half a dozen ports before their current stop and have another half a dozen to go.
The area of visited by cruise ship tourists is typically a very small fraction of the port city. Worse, the establishments in that area only account for a small fraction of the overall local employment, and are owned by a handful of families or (worse) funds/corporations.
So money does flow, but not really to the local economy, apart from a number of low-paid service jobs.
You also appear to have a very outdated view of cruise ship tourism. What "rich tourists"? These days it is the less well-off that go on cruises, even choosing to cruise through their retirement as the cheaper option [1]. Nobody is going to make expensive purchases as they have already visited half a dozen ports before their current stop and have another half a dozen to go.
[1] https://globalnews.ca/news/10004079/retired-couple-51-consec...