Another Record Cruise Season

Anyone wanting evidence of the continuing rapid growth of the cruise industry in Australia just needs to look at the horizon this summer – there is going to be a constant procession of ships visiting our ports in coastal towns and cities. There will be a record 41 vessels from CLIA member cruise lines based in Australasia or visiting local waters between October 1, 2016, and April 30, 2017, compared to 38 ships over the same period last year. Between them, these ships will make more than 900 calls to ports around Australia over this period (up 25% on last year’s port call numbers) and with more than half the ships (23) offering return cruises from our shores, agents and their clients will be able to take advantage of almost 400 round trip itineraries from local ports, a 20% rise on last summer’s offerings. Some highlights of the peak summer cruise period worth keeping an eye on include: ■The inaugural visit of the largest ship to ever call here, Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas; ■The largest Princess ship ( Emerald Princess) to sail from Australia over an extended season; ■The ultra-luxury Seabourn Encore arriving in January and making nine maiden port calls; ■The first Australian visit of the luxury Azamara Journey; ■The debut of the 92,000-tonne Norwegian Star; ■The maiden Australian visit of HapagLloyd Cruises Europa 2, a perennial top achiever in the Berlitz cruising guide; ■The inaugural visit of Oceania Cruises’ Sirena which will arrive in Sydney on March 6; and ■Another Royal Rendezvous of two Cunard vessels – the remastered flagship Queen Mary 2 and her younger sister Queen Elizabeth in Sydney on February 25. CLIA’S September 2016 Cruise360 conference was a resounding success with close to 480 participants in attendance as the cruise industry focused on “Navigating the Future”. MC & moderator for the day, Ross Greenwood delivered an energy to the day that was evident from his opening comments! Ross is well known for his enthusiasm and very astute business acumen and it has to be said that for someone that is not involved in the cruise industry on a daily basis, his level of knowledge, understanding and insight into the cruise scene was remarkable. Our theme of “Navigating the Future” was addressed in all panels and included discussion on technology and ship design through to the relevance of retail agents as we continue to evolve. For me, one of the highlights of the day came from our keynote speaker, Michael Mcqueen. He is an award-winning speaker, social researcher and best-selling author. He has his finger on the pulse when it comes to emerging trends shaping business and culture and he certainly left our C360 audience with some great ideas. One of Michael’s closing quotes which is so appropriate for retailers today… “Go big, Go Boutique or Go Broke!”