First ports of call

THIS week, I am excited to be an invited speaker at the Australian Ports Conference.

I will be discussing the Future of Cruise Operations in Australia - perfect timing as it is predicted that by 2020, around two million Australians will be taking a cruise, making it the fastest growing sector of the tourism industry.

As such, we need to recognise the important role the ports play in the tourism scenario, given we have seen the continual growth of visitors arriving to destinations via these gateways.

This means that the ports naturally need to work closely with the cruise lines and plan for the type of ships they need to expect – catering to the projected trends for boutique style cruising (under 1,000 passengers) through to the increasing numbers of megaliners (over 3,000 passengers) being built.

However, it is also essential they consider the type of passengers arriving on those ships and need to work more closely than ever with the destination management teams and the ground-handlers who are organising the onshore itineraries.

The ports are now the face of the destination – they play an important role in the passengers’ perception of a city, including what facilities and services they provide, and how accessible they are to key points of interest.

This is an exciting time for us as an industry as we continue to work closely together to support the cruise lines and their passengers as they move around our beautiful country. ACA is excited to work with our ports as they help us to make this possible.