Timaru to host 100 off cruise ship

One cruise ship will call at Timaru this summer –with New Zealand passengers only.

New Zealand Cruise Association chief executive Kevin O’Sullivan confirmed that the Le Laperouse, owned by French company Ponant Cruises, will call at Timaru on February 28.

There would be 100 New Zealand passengers only on board because of Covid-19 restrictions, which was fewer than the ship’s capacity for up to 264 passengers. Permission for the cruises was granted by the Government in late 2020.

‘‘Timaru is one of the fortunate ones,’’ O’Sullivan said.

Before Covid-19, the expectation was that this summer there would have been 1100 port calls made around New Zealand by a range of cruise ships.

That number had been decimated by Covid-19 and only six to eight port calls would be made at Gisborne, Lyttelton and Timaru.

O’Sullivan said demand for cruises was high with 74 per cent of passengers surveyed stating they would take a cruise tomorrow if one was available.

‘‘The issue is passengers, but

He said $640 million was wiped out of the New Zealand economy because of the pandemic and shutdown of the industry.

‘‘It had been well on its way to being a $1 billion industry and tourism was our biggest industry ahead of dairy, now it’s nonexistent.

‘‘It has been challenging but people in the industry are enormously resilient, they’re not just sitting there, they’re making changes to their operations.’’

The Le Laperouse was in the news when its itinerary was abruptly cancelled and the vessel docked in Wellington on March 15, the day after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced travel restrictions. not getting getting permission.’’