It’s being marketed as the first exclusive cruising destination in the southern hemisphere.
Set for 2027, Royal Caribbean’s Royal Beach club on the Vanuatu island of Lelepa will feature 10 bars, two eateries and an adults-only area.
However, Indigenous community leaders fear the club is a danger to the environment.
And they are demanding answers from the cruise operator, saying the environmental impact assessment submitted for the project is incomplete and misleading.
Chief Tungulman Albert Manaure is the nominated spokesperson for the Lelepa Council of Chiefs and he says there are no clear details on things like sewage plans, reef health assessments, and coastal erosion modelling.
“That is where we harvest our daily food,” he said. “We feel that if the marine and the environment is not really taken care of, it’s going to really impact our people.”
