General News
29 April, 2023
Port highly sought-after
CAIRNS is one of the top destinations for cruise shipping companies.
Ports North operations general manager Richard Stevenson said the authority had been marketing its capacity to handle longer ships of up to 300m, particularly at the annual international Seatrade Miami event attended by chief pilot Trond Kildal who had a background in cruise ships and was well known to the operators.
He said any new ship coming to the Asia Pacific region would almost certainly visit Cairns.
“Cairns has a good track record and reputation which is jealously guarded,” he said.
“One of our points of difference is that passengers who get off the ship can be in the CBD in a matter of minutes.
“In five minutes families with kids can be at the Lagoon, or two minutes at the Figtree playground to have an ice cream.
“The crew can walk to Cairns Central to buy their chips, Tim Tams or mobile phones without having the extra cost of a taxi or Uber.”
Mr Stevenson said Cairns was so desired as a destination that, twice in March when the MSC Poesla and MSC Magnifica made their maiden visits, there were no senior leadership on board to receive a plaque from Ports North to mark the occasion.
“They were all out doing things,” he said.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive officer Mark Olsen said the latest figures showed cruising added about $100 million in indirect spending to the region with each passenger spending an average of $230 a day.
He said cruising made a strong comeback in 2022 with around 130 cruise ships at Cairns, Yorkeys Knob, Port Douglas, Cooktown and Thursday Island from June through to December.
“Home porting is highly desirable for Cairns as it dramatically increases the economic impact with passengers flying in and out of the city to meet the ship and potentially spending more time in the region,” Mr Olsen said.
“The ship is restocked with local food, various supplies and fuel, and the crew lives in the community spending their wages with local businesses.
“In 2018-19, Cairns welcomed 193 cruise visit days, with 97,174 passengers and nearly 16,000 crew contributing more than $50 million direct expenditure into the region, while the total economic benefit reached nearly $102 million,” he said.
Mr Olsen said Port Douglas received 15 ship calls in 2018- 19 with 20,500 passengers contributing $4.78 million in direct expen
