Global Cruise Lines International Association president and CEO Charles “Bud” Darr has fired another shot across the bows of the Australian cruise industry, saying it risks losing pace with the rest of the world and faces being left behind if high local costs and government red tape are not addressed.
The warning came at the unofficial opening of the Australian wave season, the Australian Paddock to Port’s economic impact report commissioned by CLIA Australasia and the Australian Cruise Association and hosted by Business Sydney’s Paul Nicolaou at a lunch at the MCA in Sydney’s Circular Quay.
In a Q&A with Destination NSW CEO Karen Jones – with Crown Princess berthed at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in the background – Darr said a combination of threats to the local industry, which generated $7.32 billion in economic output in 2024–25, included costs that were considered “off the charts”. Add to that the bid to apply domestic labour standards to the international cruise labour market and a harsh regulatory environment and they threatened to hinder existing growth.
Australia’s cruise fleet has declined to 11 homeported ships for the 2026/27 season, dropping significantly from 18 ships during the 2023/24 season, despite being Australia being fourth largest cruise market in the world.
Darr also noted the mismatch between demand and supply: 1.4 million Australians cruise each year out of a population of 27 million – a far higher proportion than the roughly 37 million passengers drawn from a global international tourism market of 1.6 billion.
Global order book “can’t exist without optimism”
Darr told the room of 120 guests that the state of the global industry was “excellent”, pointing to an order book of 86 ships worldwide worth roughly US$96 billion (AU$147 billion) in capital commitment, stretching beyond 2036.
“You could have the biggest steamer trunk in the world full of cash, and you can’t get a slot in a shipyard to build a ship before about 2037 right now, if it’s going to be a ship of significant size,” he said.
Global passenger numbers climbed from 34.3 million in 2024 to 37.3 million in 2025, and are forecast to hit 42 million by 2029, generating economic output of US$198.8 billion (AU$304 billion) across the industry’s 328 ships.
Against that backdrop, Darr said Australia was not keeping pace – with the market recording $1.1 billion in lost year-on-year economic output against a $7.3 billion base.
“The question that needs to be asked by those in a position to control it is: are we getting our share of the growth?” he said. “If you’re maintaining the status quo and it’s a flat line… you’re losing pace. If you’re declining, you’re really losing pace with the rest of the industry.”
Costs and labour standards under fire
Darr said that while geographic and infrastructure constraints played a role, the controllable factors were cost and regulation.
“If I’m a cruise line CEO and I have 10 ships, I don’t have to think about is Australia just off the charts too expensive. It’s just: did Australia go from number 10 to number 11 on the 10 most economically viable itineraries that I could deploy that ship on?”
He also pushed back on proposals to apply domestic labour standards to what he described as a globally regulated industry already governed by international convention.
“If we fail to implement it, by all means, call us out and we’ll fix it,” he said, but warned that imposing domestic standards on a ship that could be anywhere in the world within weeks created regulatory instability.
Darr said the cruise sector supported 1.8 million jobs worldwide, with only around 22,000 of those in Australia – compared with 93,000 in Brazil.
“Australia has so much going for it. I really think the potential here is enormous. It’s yet to be fully unlocked,” he said.
Stability the key question for government
Asked by Jones what government could do to support the industry, Darr pointed to long lead times on itinerary planning – some three years out, with luxury lines booking up to 36 months ahead.
“As I sit here today, from the cruise industry’s perspective, it might as well be September of 2029,” he said. “We can’t have a shifting landscape of what we would be required to do operationally… government could play an important role… in keeping it a viable, competitive destination.”
He cited Dubrovnik mayor Mato Franković as a model for productive government–industry partnership, contrasting him with local leaders in Nice and Cannes, who he said used cruise tourism “to score cheap political points”.
Darr said he had met with the NSW Tourism Minister John Graham that morning and believed there was appetite to work constructively with the industry. Darr will be the keynote speaker at Australian Cruise Association Annual Conference 2026 in Brisbane opening today and concluding September 4. He will be joined by Luis Ajamil, CEO of Bermello Ajamil & Partners, Holland America Line VP Onboard Revenue Carole Biencourt and Viking Director of Port Operations Stefano Torresi.
The Q&A was followed by a panel discussion outlining the economic impact that the cruise industry had on Australian jobs, businesses and communities.
Moderated by CLIA Australasia & Asia executive director and regional managing director Joel Katz, the panel featured Steven Biviano from supplier Select Fresh Providores, Accommodation Australia NSW general manager Stacey McBride and Flight Centre Travel Group’s Global Leisure CEO James Kavanagh.
