Exclusive: New Zealand’s cruise strategy is producing extraordinary results – Australia must do the same

• New Zealand recently presented its national cruise strategy and results have been immediate.
• Cruise lines are scheduling more ships to New Zealand, and Carnival even cancelled Sydney sailings and replaced them with New Zealand cruises instead.
• The CEO of the New Zealand Cruise Association tells Cruise Passenger how this was made possible.

Only a few months ago, New Zealand began putting the finishing touches a national cruise strategy, worked and agreed up on by both industry and government.

The results have been astonishing.

New Zealand has pushed back against a ban on cruising to Milford Sound, built out regulatory cost transparency for cruise lines, worked on solutions to previous biofouling concerns and more. The work was so effective that Carnival cancelled a month worth of Sydney sailings on Carnival Adventure and moved them to New Zealand instead.

We’re already seeing cruise lines like Princess and Celebrity upping their sailings to New Zealand for season ahead, and prices look great as well, suggesting that the government and ports may have worked to get regulatory costs down, or at least more transparent.

The development of a clear, unified cruise strategy has made all the difference to New Zealand, and it’s exactly what Australia needs. Australia has seen cruise ship capacity dip 35% in just three years, with almost nothing being said by government.

After New Zealand saw a similar crisis looming, it quickly had ministers rallying behind cruise and understanding it as a priority, making it clear that New Zealand was open and wanting cruise ships.

In reality, Australia creating its own national cruise strategy would be hugely beneficial for New Zealand and would help with its own cruise recovery, as cruise lines generally think of the region as a whole. It’s time for Australia to follow New Zealand’s example and have a cruise summit, form a strategy and get ships coming back here.

New Zealand Cruise Association President Jacqui Lloyd told Cruise Passenger of the huge difference that a unified strategy has made for New Zealand.

“Before we had a unified strategy, cruise often came across as fragmented and ad hoc which made it harder for government to take us seriously. Cruise Aotearoa New Zealand 2040 has changed that completely.

“It aligns with national and regional destination management strategies, the New Zealand Tourism Strategy, and the Government’s Tourism Industry Transformation Plan, giving cruise a credible, integrated framework within the wider tourism system.

She explains that a more clearly formulated strategy allowed the association to demonstrate the value of cruise to the government.

“Now, government listens and engages with us because they can see that the cruise industry has a clear long-term plan that delivers value for the economy, environment, and communities.

“We’ve just started our first planned review of the strategy which will refine our priorities through to 2030 to ensure the roadmap remains relevant and action focused.”

As far as next steps, Lloyd says its about putting plans to action, including continuing to develop their in-port hull cleaning solutions.

“We’ve had some big wins with government, but now it’s about turning commitment into action. The joint statement from five Ministers confirming that New Zealand is open, ready, and welcoming for cruise was a major step forward, outlining key focus areas like biofouling, fee transparency, and infrastructure.

“Our cruise line partners have welcomed that clarity but now they’re looking for visible results. Port of Auckland and NZ Dive Services have made real progress on in-port niche and spot biofouling cleaning which has given operators confidence that solutions are in place to support future deployment. The focus now must be delivery of other areas of focus making sure the progress we’ve made on translates into action.”

As far as the new homeported Carnival sailings, while the association wasn’t part of the negotiations, they feel that government confidence, plus the in-port cleaning strategy, surely went a long way.

“I’m hopeful that Auckland’s new in-port biofouling cleaning capability combined with a strong, coordinated message of welcome from the New Zealand Government would have also helped rebuild confidence in NZ for Carnivals Winter Cruising deployment.”

As far as the question of Australia, Lloyd acknowledges that the region is viewed as a whole and hopes further regional coordination and cooperation can come at a governmental level.

“Regional cooperation has always been one of our collective strengths. New Zealand, Australian Cruise Association and our Pacific partners have long worked together to ensure seamless itineraries and strong destination partnerships across the region. Cruise lines see us collectively as Oceania, and that coordinated approach has underpinned our success for decades.

“What’s changing now is the opportunity to strengthen that collaboration at a government level ensuring that cruise is recognised as a shared regional opportunity within wider tourism, trade, and environmental frameworks.”