The Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, signed a law that bans large cruise ships from visiting destinations in the Nice-Côte d’Azur region.

According to a report by Le Monde, ships with over 900 guests will no longer be welcomed at local ports, which include major tourism destinations such as Villefranche-sur-Mer and the city of Nice.

Also serving as president of the French region, Estrosi plans to limit calls of large ships starting in July 2025.

The mayor is quoted as saying that the new measure aims at promoting “selective tourism” in the face of the threat of “overtourism.”

While Estrosi has no authority to prohibit vessels from visiting, he can ban vessels from disembarking in the region’s ports, Le Monde said.

It’s unclear how Estrosi plans to deal with cruise calls already scheduled for the impacted ports.

In an interview with Le Figaro, he said he is looking into the matter to see “under which conditions port reservations can be cancelled.”

The new law is expected to have a significant impact on Villefranche-sur-Mer, which serves as a popular port of call for large ships from various cruise lines.

Among the vessels scheduled to visit the destination in 2025 are Royal Caribbean’s 3,430-guest Voyager of the Seas, Celebrity’s 3,260-guest Ascent, and Norwegian’s 4,200-guest Epic.

With infrastructure limitations, the city of Nice is already being visited by smaller ships, which will limit the impact of the new law.

The town is currently working on a series of developments to better accommodate the vessels, Le Monde said. Plans call for a shore power system that will allow ships to shut down their engines while docked.

Mayor Estrosi initially revealed his plans to ban cruise ships from visiting the region during a speech early in January.

At the time, he stated that large cruise ships that “pollute and dump their low-cost clients” are not welcome in ports of call in the French region of Nice-Côte d’Azur.

“These vessels do not correspond in any way to the model that we want to develop in terms of hospitality tourism,” Estrosi added.