Stop dawdling, Coast needs its own cruise ship terminal

AS the powers that be debate the various options that our city has to boost the number of visitors, we have, for 10 years or more, been debating the viability of cruise ship visits.

Figures published in The Australian (21/6) indicate that the cruise industry contributes an estimated $5 billion to the Australian economy annually and Joel Katz, Australasia managing director of the Cruise Lines International Association, said that up to two years ago the industry had been growing at double digits every year, with a 10-year average of 18 per cent growth.

“The growth slowed to a crawl over the past couple of years simply because constrained Australian ports have not been able to keep up with the demand for facilities,” he said.

Jill Abel, chief executive of the Australian Cruise Association, believes the new Brisbane terminal will push the industry back into solid growth and our State Government has identified the industry as one of the fastestgrowing in Queensland’s crucial tourism sector (The Australian

27/7) and a “priority market segment for development”.

The Courier-Mail (18/8) reported that the cruise industry was already worth more than $1.1 billion a year to this state’s economy and it was expected to double in value in the next few years.

In a special feature in The

Courier-Mail in June, Brisbane’s new cruise terminal was described by Roy Cummins, Port of Brisbane chief executive, as “a game changer for Brisbane’s tourism” and the article estimated that within 20 years the cruise industry would bring more than 766,000 visitors to Brisbane.

In that same article, Tourism Minister Kate Jones said “520 ships berthed at Queensland ports last financial year, marking 11 per cent growth year on year. Already the cruise sector supports more than 3700 jobs”.

Meantime, our tourism-dependant city has not only missed out on this rapid growth but is dawdling, agonisingly slowly, towards finally joining the 30-plus Australian cities and towns which already welcome cruise ships.

Are we content to let the Brisbane-centric State Government continue to stall on making a decision, in the same way it stalled on Adani?

I recently spent a month onboard ships in northern Europe and trans-Atlantic. Like an increasing number of people, cruising is my preferred holiday.

When singing the praises of our city I was frequently asked if the Gold Coast could be taken in on an Australian cruise.

When I explained that Brisbane was our nearest port and that they would lose at least a couple of hours in travel time, interest subsided.

It was interesting too, the Brits’ lack of knowledge of the Gold Coast, despite the Commonwealth Games. Few knew exactly where we are.

Appearing in cruise brochures worldwide would surely help.

Our Premier has in the past given the impression that the new Brisbane terminal will adequately cover all of southeast Queensland. I believe this to be incorrect.

A Gold Coast terminal would be a huge benefit to both the Gold Coast and the state generally.

It’s not a case of cruise ships visiting Brisbane or the Gold Coast.

Imagine cruising out of Sydney in winter, calling at Brisbane on the way north to Cairns or PNG, then the Gold Coast on the return journey south.

A win-win situation, surely.