Why cruising in Australia is set to reach a “crisis point”
While cruising in Australia is more popular than it’s ever been, the industry is set to reach a “crisis point” regarding an issue that’s been brewing for many years.
And it all comes down to a lack of space in the Harbour City.
With cruise ship capacity at Sydney already splitting at the seams, cruise industry leaders have said something must be done to make more space for ships.
Cruise Lines International Association Australasia (CLIA) Managing Director Joel Katz says the solution cannot be docking ships in Brisbane or Melbourne instead.
Mr Katz told News.com.au, “You cannot attract international customers to the secondary ports like Brisbane or Melbourne. It has to be Sydney for the international customers.”
CLIA Chairman Steve Odell echoed his colleague's comments, saying, “We’re supportive of all initiatives to develop ports (elsewhere) but at the end of the day, you’ve got to have a port where you can do turnarounds, where there’s a decent airport and great hotels.
“You need infrastructure in the city where you can load food and fuel and that’s Sydney for us, and it always comes back to that.”
A spokeswoman for the New South Wales Port Authority told News.com.au the issue was on their radar, a number of initiatives were being considered.
“One of the short to medium term initiatives being explored by the Port Authority is a proposal to introduce a secondary timeslot, that is double turnarounds, at the Overseas Passenger Terminal and have two ships turn around in a day — thereby providing more capacity at the terminal outside of traditional hours and turnaround times,” she said.
“The NSW Government is developing a 25 year Cruise Plan to consider cruise infrastructure capacity east of the Harbour Bridge.”
What’s your take? Should Sydney do more to create new cruise infrastructure? Or should the major cruise lines consider alternate itineraries? Let us know in the comments.
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