New Zealand’s Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Louise Upston has travelled to Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami to make the case for increased cruise deployment to the region, meeting with CLIA president and CEO Bud Darr and other industry leaders at the world’s biggest cruise trade event.
The backdrop to the visit is sobering. According to the New Zealand Cruise Association, projected ship calls for the 2025/26 season are more than 40 per cent down on the record-breaking 2023/24 season – taking volumes below levels last seen in 2017/18. The 2024/25 season saw passenger numbers fall 20 per cent, and while guest satisfaction scores remain high – consistently above 8.5 out of 10 the NZCA has described the underlying picture as “much more serious” than those figures suggest.
New Zealand has also faced reputational damage from strict biosecurity requirements that have seen ships turned away from ports in recent years, including a widely-reported incident in which an Australian couple were unable to marry at Hobbiton after their P&O vessel was denied entry – a story that made international headlines and did little to help the country’s standing with cruise lines weighing up deployment options.
Upston attended alongside a delegation including representatives from the New Zealand Cruise Association, the Australian Cruise Association and CLIA Australasia — a show of force aimed at signalling to cruise lines that the region is actively competing for ships at a time when destination competition is fierce.
“We need to make sure those ships are coming down south, coming to New Zealand and coming to Australia,” Upston said. “We’re open for business and we love cruise.”
CLIA Australasia executive director Joel Katz said the minister’s presence in Miami sent an important signal. “Competition among destinations is intense, so it’s critical that we create the right environment to attract cruise ships and grow the economic benefits of cruise tourism in our region,” he said. “Having Minister Upston here sends a clear message that New Zealand is serious about supporting cruise tourism.”
The trip is the most visible sign yet that the government is taking a more hands-on approach to reversing the decline — though with the 2025/26 season already largely locked in, the real test will be whether warm words in Miami translate into the policy changes needed to win back deployment for 2026/27 and beyond.
