CRUISING BONANZA
Three newcomers among 10 passenger liner visits to Cairns
DECEMBER will be the most lucrative month of the year for the Cairns cruise ship industry with 10 luxury vessel visits to the port.
The suite of arrivals includes three ships making their maiden voyage to Cairns — the first newcomer since Viking Sun in February.
Economist Bill Cummings placed the value of the 10 arrivals in the millions of dollars, despite most of the ships being on the smaller side.
“It could be expected the direct expenditure generated will be of the order of $3 million mainly on shopping, food and drink and tours,” he said.
It comes as Cairns-based Coral Expeditions revealed plans for a fourth vessel, the $50 million Coral Adventurer, which will provide 50 new jobs next year. The 72-passenger vessel also will undertake a 60-day circumnavigation of Australia, which will cost nearly $40,000 per passenger, to mark its 35th year in 2020.
Cairns-based Coral Discoverer – a boutique vessel with capacity for just 72 passengers – returned home for an overnight visit from Papua New Guinea on Sunday before setting sail again on Monday.
Its exit has freed up room for Seabourn Sojourn to make its first visit to Cairns at 8am today with about 787 passengers and crew on board.
Ports North chairman Russell Beer said big things were on the horizon for the industry.
“This month caps a great year for our premier cruise destination, the Port of Cairns,” he said. “All up, we will have had 57 cruise ship visits through the port for 2018. And these numbers will only increase as the Cairns Shipping Development Project opens up our waterways to larger cruise ships in the future.”
A second newcomer, the new Viking Orion, will arrive at the Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal at 8am on Sunday.
It will depart Cairns at 6pm the same day, with the familiar Pacific Aria turning up on Monday.
The largest visitor of the month, 261m-long Sea Princess, will arrive on Wednesday, December 12, followed by Seabourn Encore on December 13, Pacific Aria again on December 17, Regatta on December 18 and Seven Seas Mariner on December 21.
The year will be rounded out with a maiden call from Silver Muse on December 30.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Pip Close welcomed the new arrivals. “In the last financial year, Cairns welcomed 201 visit days with 138,267 passengers and more than 17,000 crew contributing $75.8 million in direct expenditure into the region,” she said.