Record Number of Ships to Tie Up in New Zealand this Summer

In a major boost for the economy, New Zealand is set to welcome a record number of cruise ships this summer, including an unprecedented six ships making their inaugural visits to the country.
 
Peak industry body Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia said 28 ships from its member cruise lines’ fleets would cruise to New Zealand over the coming months – an increase of more than 25 per cent on last year’s summer season.
 
According to CLIA Australasia Commercial Director Brett Jardine, the visiting flotilla will make more than 600 calls to New Zealand ports between October 1, 2015 and April 30, 2016, injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy.
 
However CLIA has warned that the future growth of the local cruise industry will be affected by the introduction of the Border Control Levy in New Zealand.
 
“The introduction of a ‘tax’ on arriving cruise passengers and crew will have a major impact on the cost of doing business in New Zealand and comes on top of an already expensive destination in terms of port and related costs,” Mr Jardine said
 
“With New Zealand operating in a highly competitive global market in terms of cruise ship destinations, the imposition of the levy is likely to make alternative destinations in the region more attractive and will almost certainly slow the growth of the industry in New Zealand.”
 
Mr Jardine said the current growth of cruising in New Zealand was underlined by the fact that six of the CLIA member cruise ships visiting this summer would be making their inaugural calls to New Zealand, including Azamara Quest – the first cruise ship from the boutique US line to ever visit Down Under. Other ships making their New Zealand debut during the season include Costa Cruises’ Costa Luminosa, Holland America Line’s Noordam, Ponant’s Le Soleal, Princess Cruises’ Golden Princess and Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas.
 
The cruise season will get underway in early October with Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess making the first visit to New Zealand shores when it cruises into Fiordland National Park on October 2.  Diamond Princess will also be the first ship to call in Auckland for the season, arriving October 8.
 
The new figures come at the start of Cruise Week, CLIA’s nationwide consumer promotion which will run from September 7-14  (www.cruiseweek.org).
 
Mr Jardine said the visiting ships would offer a total of 20 roundtrip cruises from New Zealand during the summer, significantly more than the six roundtrip cruises available last year. 
 
The new figures also reveal an unprecedented 27 maiden port calls by member cruise line ships, with  destinations from Bay of Islands in the north to Stewart Island in the south welcoming new cruise lines to their shores.
 
“The coming cruise season is a story of growth for New Zealand,” Mr Jardine said. “With more ships and more port calls on offer than ever before, New Zealand is clearly firmly on the cruise map which is great news for the local economy.
 
“With its natural beauty and diverse ports of call, New Zealand is an ideal cruise destination and one which is in demand, as these latest figures show.”
 
Mr Jardine said that the figures built on CLIA’s cruise passenger statistics released earlier this year, which showed that a record 65,609 New Zealanders took a cruise in 2014.