Cruise on track for 1m target

The Australian cruise industry is on track to achieving its target of one million passengers by 2020, with new figures showing passenger numbers reached another record in 2011. The annual International Cruise Council Australasia report, released today, shows 623,294 Australians cruised last year, up 34% on 2010. Travel to the South Pacific remained the number one destination, attracting 37% of passengers, followed by Australia and New Zealand which accounted for 19% and 14% of bookings respectively. Notably, bookings to New Zealand rose a staggering 80% on last year’s figures to 84,018 passengers. Unveiling the figures in Sydney this morning, ICCA chairman Gavin Smith attributed the gains to the quality and variety of product in Australia. “We are anchored in a time where brand after brand is coming to Australia, bringing a diversity of new product. That product drives innovation, which broadens cruise to consumer groups and brings repeat bookings,” he said. Smith remained confident that further growth would continue into 2012 in line with increasing ship capacity, which was forecast to grow 15% this year. “We are well on target to reaching our goal of one million passengers by 2020,” he said. “No other cruise industry in the world can say their cruise numbers have tripled in five years, and that is a real achievement.” Smith touched on the issue of cruise infrastructure after proposals to share Garden Island were recently quashed. The industry was still working with the government to find a solution, he said. In the meantime, Athol Bay and the international passenger terminal will be used on the day of turnaround, but it remains up to the cruise lines to manage how passengers get ashore, Smith said. Speaking with Travel Today after the briefing, Carnival Australia chief executive Ann Sherry confirmed that some 150 cruise ships were expected to visit Sydney this year, marking a 30% increase on 2011. Visitor numbers were also likely to experience double digit growth up to 25% in 2012, she added. River cruising saw a 22% jump in passengers to just under 35,000. Less than 12,000 took a river cruise in 2007.