Fewer tourists than expected cruise to subantarctic islands
Only 65% of cruise ship voyages to New Zealand’s remote subantarctic islands planned for the summer season were completed, a report says.
Seventeen voyages to the Auckland, Campbell and Enderby islands were planned in the period from November 2023 to January 2024, according to the Southland Conservation Board’s district report.
However, only 11 of them were completed.
In addition, only 37% of the allocated entry permits were used.
This was broken down into an uptake of 51% for Enderby Island, followed by 37% for Campbell Island and 12% for Auckland Island.
During the three-month period, the total number of passenger landings was 1725. This included 867 for Enderby Island, 717 for Campbell Island and 141 for Auckland Island.
The lower than expected permit utilisation rates were attributed to low uptake of the sailings on offer. Few voyages were full, with occupancy ranging from 40%to90%.
There were also strong winds and rough seas, and one vessel had an engineering fault that resulted in it bypassing the islands entirely, the report said.
“Given the variability to date, it is difficult to predict how the season will finish up by the end of February.”
Department of Conservation’s Murihiku operations manager John McCarroll said entry permits for the subantartic islands were “fully allocated for this season” and demand had been high. “However, the realities of operating in the Southern Ocean mean not all permits will be used,” he said.
“Factors such as weather and oceanic conditions on the day can and do impact whether vessels are able to land or not, and ultimately it is the decision of the skipper.”
In November, the department was still weighing up whether to allow cruise ships from Antarctica to visit the southern, outlying islands amid fears of an avian flu outbreak.
New Zealand’s five subantarctic island groups are home to 126 bird species including penguins and albatrosses, which do not breed anywhere else in the world. Cruise voyages to the islands allow tourists the opportunity to get close to some of the planet’s rarest wildlife.