Joel Katz, managing director, CLIA Australasia
Another Strong Year of Growth
During May, CLIA launched its annual Australian ocean passenger Source Market Report for 2017. With more than 1.34 million Australians taking an ocean cruise, cruising has cemented its place as a quintessential modern Australian holiday.
Almost one in every 18 Australians cruised last year and Australian penetration rate remains well ahead of more mature markets.
While the growth wasn’t as dramatic as recent years, it was more than two and a half times higher than the rate of Australia’s inbound holiday arrivals growth rate of 1.7%. This growth rate puts Australia on par with the world’s largest cruise market, the USA, which experienced growth of 4.7%.
As long as we can solve the lack of cruise infrastructure development in Sydney and across the region, we’ll see further increases in passenger numbers. It is encouraging that the Port of Brisbane has settled commercial terms for the new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal and expects to begin operating by mid-2020.
One of the great success stories of the booming cruise industry is the valuable cruise dollars spread right around Australia’s vast coastline.
CRUISE360
As cruising goes from strength to strength, we are experiencing a record uptake of travel agents buying tickets to attend the Cruise 360 conference in Sydney during August, with numbers already exceeding the same time last year.
Cruise360 2018 promises not to disappoint, with a full day of learning with keynote speakers, breakout sessions, the highly anticipated trade show, and ample networking opportunities.
This year, for the first time, Cruise360 activities will take place over two days. On Thursday 30 August we are offering a ship inspection of Carnival Spirit in the morning, followed by an inaugural Cruise360 Cruise Destination Showcase in the afternoon.
This not-to-be-missed showcase will add further value and create additional learning opportunities for our travel agents, and brings together a fantastic group of cruise destinations. Cruise destinations presenting include Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Monaco, Singapore, Japan, and New York as well as local tourism bodies from Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory and New Zealand.
The main Cruise360 Australasia conference will take place on Friday 31 August. CLIA president and CEO Cindy D’Aoust, and Norwegian Cruise Line president and CEO Andy Stuart have been confirmed as speakers, with more speakers to be announced soon.
Delegates attending Cruise360 Australasia can register for the Ship Inspection and Cruise Destination Showcase at no additional cost on a first come first served basis, and additional CLIA points will be awarded to those agents.
Spaces are limited so book early to avoid missing out. Visit www.cruising.org.au
