New Zealand Cruise Association (NZCA) Chair Tansy Tompkins has issued a rallying cry to the sector that the country’s outlook for cruising is “deeply concerning” and requires urgent action.
Writing in the association’s Chairman’s Report to launch the NZCA 2025 conference, Tompkins presented a four-pronged plan it will pursue to continue efforts to reinvigorate the sector.
These include enhanced efforts to advocate and push for a stable and transparent regulatory environment; promotion of New Zealand at key global events; partnerships with industry bodies such as Tourism New Zealand; and a review of the Cruise Aotearoa New Zealand 2040 strategy to ensure it remains fit-for-purpose.
Tompkins identified four key problems, which now leave New Zealand’s upcoming 2025/26 wave season more than 40% down on projected ship calls compared to 2023/24 and below the levels from 2017/18.
“This is not a gentle contraction,” Tompkins said.
“It’s not a softening of demand, it is a steep and deeply worrying decline that, if not reversed, quickly threatens to erode the infrastructure, investment, and human capability that underpins cruise in New Zealand.”
Further issues include inconsistency in biofouling regulations, making it impossible for cruise lines to confidently say a ship can enter New Zealand, leading to an unacceptable brand risk and cost, she argued.
Tompkins said new regulations and costs introduced with short notice, overall cost to visit and a perception the country is “difficult to work with” and unpredictable, were creating a perfect storm that was driving ships elsewhere.
However, Innovations such as in-water cleaning trials at the Port of Auckland were yielding promising results on biofouling, which Tompkins (pictured) said is a “game-changer” that could improve certainty for cruise lines.
The NZCA Chair also praised the whole-of-government approach to the industry’s problems, with multiple ministers committing to enforce open and transparent conversations around cost increases and changing executive-level perception.
