Cruise ship visits up 58%

Monday 17 September 2007

Auckland will welcome a record 73 cruise ship visits during the 2007-08 cruise season – a massive 58% increase on last season’s 46 visits. The season begins on 24 September with a transit visit (not involving passengers embarking or disembarking) by the Regal Princess.

In all, 30 vessels will call at Auckland, with some calling up to eight times during the season to make up the total of 73 visits. Passenger numbers for the 2007-08 season are expected to be around 112,000 – five times the total for the 1996-97 season. The Sapphire Princess is the biggest cruise ship expected in terms of tonnage and passenger numbers (up to 2750); she is due to arrive on 21 January 2008.

The QEII, a regular visitor to Auckland, will call on 21 February but this time will share the honours for longest ship (294m) with Queen Victoria, the newest ship of the Cunard fleet, making her first voyage to New Zealand and calling at Auckland on 15 February. Other first-time callers expected are: Sun Princess (Princess Cruises) arriving 17 October 2007; Rhapsody of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) making her first call on 7 November;

The Scholar Ship, a sailing university from the United States, also arriving 7 November and staying for a week in Auckland; Mercury (Celebrity Cruises) arriving 9 December; Nautica arriving on 24 January 2008 with 680 passengers; and Orion, a boutique ship with a maximum of 100 passengers, which will call at Auckland on 13 February and then visit places like Matauri Bay in Northland that are inaccessible to larger vessels. Ports of Auckland’s Marine Services team, which operates the overseas passenger terminal on Princes Wharf, is well prepared for the record season. “It is a matter of planning well for each visit and maintaining good communications with Customs, MAF, tour operators and ships’ agents,” says Ports of Auckland’s General Manager Port Services, Wayne Mills.

Economic Impact

Auckland continues to attract the most cruise activity in New Zealand, with passenger exchanges focused on Auckland. In total, 47,068 passenger days were spent in Auckland during the 2006-07 season, which was 18% of total passenger days in New Zealand. Auckland’s record upcoming season is part of a worldwide cruise industry boom. The latest Cruise NZ Economic Impact Report says passenger numbers are expected to grow to more than 17 million by 2010 – up 70% on 2000 and 54% on 2002. This represents a 400% increase in total worldwide passenger numbers over the past 20 years. The trend towards bigger ships with more passengers continues, with 78% of passengers arriving on large vessels (50,000 tonnes or more) during the 2006-07 season, the report says.

North Americans and Australians continue to make up the majority of passenger numbers in New Zealand waters, representing 61% of international passengers and 51% of all passengers. Each passenger who travels on a cruise ship in New Zealand generates around $1.670 in value added for the economy.

Auckland is the major beneficiary of this spending, since the majority of cruises either begin or end in Auckland. During the 2006/07 season, the Auckland region received $51.7 million – 51.2% of the New Zealand total of $100.94 million – in cruise industry direct spent (excluding air transport and bunkering). Including air transport and bunkering lifted direct expenditure to around $72.5 million in the Auckland economy.

ENDS

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