Port of Tauranga

Port welcomes record number of Cruise Ships

Posted on 25th May 2007

Chairperson of Cruise New Zealand, Craig Harris, announced at a meeting earlier this month that the Bay of Plenty would welcome a record number of cruise ships during the 2007-08 season. An impressive forty-nine cruise ships are confirmed to visit the Port of Tauranga, commencing in October this year.

"The Port of Tauranga is the second largest cruise ship port in New Zealand, in terms of calls," said Craig. "In the summer cruise season, three years ago, Tauranga had 16 port calls by international cruise vessels. The increase to forty-nine this coming season shows tremendous growth and exceeds that of any other port in New Zealand. This is a reflection on the excellent port and tour facilities the Bay of Plenty has to offer" says Craig."

Craig Harris also confirmed that the region would see well over 100,000 visitors from the coming cruise ship season, with 75,000 passengers in addition to 33,000 crew members.

"This is fantastic news", said Tim Burgess, General Manager of Tourism Bay of Plenty. The economic impact the cruise ship market brings into the region is significant and represents the development of our reputation as an international visitor destination", he said.

The trend in the cruise ship industry worldwide is for larger, higher capacity cruise ships. During the coming season there will be five days where the Port of Tauranga will host more than one cruise ship, and on the 4th of February a total of three ships will berth at the Port. Mark Cairns, Port of Tauranga's Chief Executive, said he was confident that the Port was able to handle longer ships and multiple ships berthing on the same day. "We look forward to another busy cruise ship season and are pleased we can offer excellent port facilities to accommodate these vessels" said Mark.

The 2007-08 cruise ship season will welcome for the first time, cruise line Celebrity Cruises, owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (the world's second largest cruise line group to Carnival). Celebrity's Mercury is set to visit seven times next season.

In addition the Port will welcome P&O Cruises' Super liner, Sun Princess and Royal Caribbean's, Rhapsody of the Seas. These three newcomers have the combined capacity to bring an additional 32,599 tourists to Tauranga during the cruising season. The economic impact research commissioned by Cruise New Zealand (2005/2006) reveals that each passenger that travels on a cruise ship to New Zealand generates around $2,040 in added value for the economy.

Operators in attendance at the Cruise New Zealand meeting reflected on the 2006-2007 season, and the consensus was that it was a success.

Gabrielle Kreuzer from ID Tours, an Inbound Operator who handles shore excursions for the Sapphire Princess cruise ship, said "The year was a fantastic season with no complaints in the Bay of Plenty". Tony Lugg from Bayline Coaches, who provides much of the passenger transport for cruise ships, also commented that the season went "absolutely superbly."

For further information:
Graeme Marshall
Commercial Manager
Port of Tauranga Ltd
Telephone: 07 572 8825
Email: graeme@port-tauranga.co.nz