10-YEAR CRUISE DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR NSW UNDERWAY

Sydney based company MI Associates has been appointed to work with Destination NSW to produce a 10-year Cruise Development Plan to ensure NSW captures a larger share of the economic benefits from the growth in the cruise market.

The 10-year Cruise Development Plan was a recommendation of the NSW Government’s Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan (VEIAP). The announcement came after the 2013 Cruise Industry Source Market Report, released by the Cruise Lines International Association Australasia in Sydney last week, revealed that the Australian cruise industry is now ranked number one in the world for market growth and penetration.

“The Cruise Development Plan will help NSW plan for the forecast growth in cruise ship calls and passengers numbers and to capitalise on opportunities to grow our State’s overnight visitor expenditure,” Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism and Major Events Andrew Stoner said.

“In 2013-14 Sydney welcomed a record 261 cruise ships and in 2014-15 an additional 32 are booked to call into our Harbour City, including maiden calls from Celebrity Century and Carnival Legend.

“The plan, to be developed in consultation with industry, will forecast the growth in cruise ship arrivals and passenger numbers to ensure NSW is equipped to capture a larger share of the economic benefits, including providing food and other supplies to cruise ships, pre and post-cruise tours for passengers and developing financial models to identify capacity and infrastructure needs,” he said.

“The plan will complement the NSW Government’s investment in regional tourism through the new $110 million Regional Tourism Infrastructure Fund by investigating capacity and infrastructure on the North and South Coasts, including ports such as Newcastle and Eden."

The report is due to be completed by the end of 2014.