Time to move on: CLIA

IT’S time for the cruise industry to focus on making the most of the opportunity the NSW Government’s Cruise Development Plan ( TD 30 Jul) provides, key players told the Cruise360 conference at the Hyatt Regency in Sydney today.

Speaking on a panel, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings svp and md Asia Pacific Steve Odell emphasised that a few years ago, the cruise industry didn’t have a voice in the government’s approach to Sydney’s cruise infrastructure crisis.

“When we came together as one voice and said we want a solution, it definitely made things better,” he said.

“Someone had to finally make a decision that Garden Island wasn’t going to be the place... and in my view, thank goodness, because now we can move on.”

Odell said Botany Bay was a good solution as the infrastructure could be built there, close to the airport.

“It’s about having a modern, state-of-the-art facility and having more capacity,” Odell said.

Weighing in on the topic, Carnival Cruise Line vp Australia Jennifer Vandekreeke explained if the industry wanted to grow, “there’s going to be some compromises”.

“The next time we let out the cruise stats, I don’t even know if we’re going to get to 5% growth because it’s just simply, there’s no space for the ships to be.”

Comparing the central location of Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal to that of large international markets like Florida, Vandekreeke said “we have been just a little bit spoilt by having the best parking spot on the planet”.

More from Cruise360 in Mon’s edition of Travel Daily.