Coronavirus coup

12,000 extra tourists for Darwin as virus forces itinerary changes

THE coronavirus crisis, which has forced cruise ship companies to alter their travel itineraries, will bring about 12,000 extra tourists to Darwin in the next seven months. The NT Government confirmed yesterday Darwin would be one of the beneficiaries from cruise ship companies changing their travel itineraries because of restrictions forced upon them by the coronavirus outbreak.

THE coronavirus crisis, which has forced cruise ship companies to alter their travel itineraries, will bring about 12,000 extra tourists to Darwin in the next seven months.

The NT Government confirmed yesterday Darwin would be one of the beneficiaries from cruise ship companies changing their travel itineraries because of restrictions forced upon them by the coronavirus outbreak.

The schedule changes come on the eve of the arrival of Royal Caribbean International’s plush Radiance of the Seas, which is due to dock at 5.30am tomorrow.

The ship will be carrying 2496 passengers and spend 12 hours in Darwin.

The visits added to the Darwin cruise ship schedule are: Viking Sun (Feb. 28, 29)

Explorer Dream (July 1) Sapphire Princess (July 18) Sapphire Princess (Aug. 17) Sapphire Princess (Sept 27) The announcement of the extra visits to Darwin kicks off what will be a busy six weeks ahead for cruise ship visits, with 16 ships bringing almost 25,000 potential tourists to town. As well as the Radiance

of the Seas, Darwin will also be host to the luxury liner Queen

Mary 2, which will now overnight in Darwin on February 24, providing a $700,000 boost to local businesses. The Queen

Mary 2, which is on a round the world cruise, had to skip scheduled stops in Singapore and several other cities, including Hong Kong.

Instead it travelled directly from Malaysia to Fremantle, where it is now embarking on its Australia schedule. It arrives at 6.30am on February 24 and departs at 5pm the next day, giving 2620 cashed-up passengers time to enjoy Darwin’s local tour offerings, cafes, restaurants and bars. Other cruise ships stopping in Darwin over the next few weeks are the Coral Adventurer (February 20); The Viking Sun (February 22); and the Artania

(March 1); Pacific Explorer

(March 6); Explorer Dream

(March 8); Seven Seas Mariner

(March 11); Crystal Serenity

(March 13); Amsterdam (March

16); Queen Elizabeth (March

17); Sea Princess (March 28); MSC Magnifica (March 30);

and Viking Orion (March 31).