Garden of Eden – how a town with a population of 3000 became a cruise capital and is showing Sydney how it’s done

• After infrastructure investments and promotional efforts, the small town of Eden is fast becoming a hotspot for cruise ships.
• Even huge ships like Ovation of the Seas can visit, with the ship docking today with over 4000 passengers onboard.
• The Manager of Cruise Eden Debbie Meers explains how Eden came so far, and how other ports could do it too.

Sydney Harbour is still searching for ways to increase its port capacity after more than a decade of angonising debate. Now a tiny South Coast town is showing the way.

At a time when regional ports are seeing fewer cruise ships, the port of Eden has been bucking the trend. Attracting not only the huge Royal Caribbean ship Ovation of the Seas, but also a range of ships across Disney Cruise Lines, Princess Cruise Line, P&O Australia, Celebrity Edge and more.

Just today, Ovation of the Seas popped in for another visit, with nearly 5000 passengers ready to put their money into the local economy.

Years of planning, significant government investment and concerted community efforts are now paying dividends, with the town seeing huge economic benefits from the large ships tying up at its warves every few days.

Debbie Meers, the manager of Cruise Eden, explained to Cruise Passenger how the small NSW coastal town of just a few thousand people is becoming a cruise ship hotspot. 

Meers said its the result of years of planning, with the seeds being planted way back in 2005.

It goes back a lot longer to when we got our first seven ships in 2005. They all went to anchor and we realized this was an opportunity for our region to host cruise ships visiting for the day.

“And so then it continued to grow for a number of years, just very limited growth. Though there were a couple of years we didn’t have any, in that period. And it got to about 2013 and a number of us said, wouldn’t it be great to have a wharf?

“That would be a game changer if ships could berth because we’re becoming known as an unreliable port going to tender.

“We had ships coming in and the swell was too great so they couldn’t tender or commence tender operations and then they would leave. And the disappointment for our region when that happened was huge. And so we worked out what sort of strategy we would have to take to become a reliable port, never imagining that we would be hosting ships like Ovation of the Seas.”

Meers said a key point came when the government decided to invest in the region.

“The vision then developed further once we got infrastructure investment by government and Port Authority of New South Wales. That’s when we started to see the potential of what we could develop.”

How significant is the economic impact of cruise ships for a town like Eden?

Meers says the impact of these ships cannot be understated.

“The economic impact of cruise visitation to our region is massive. 

“The additional jobs, the additional shifts that people get in businesses to service the cruise ships coming in, the bus drivers that get additional shifts to provide transportation, the tour guides that wouldn’t have a job without crews. The impact is quite considerable just in employment alone.

“But then we go and look at the spend and the spend with tour suppliers that keep their businesses viable and boost up the summer season. The spend in retail shops, in cafes, and clubs, and pubs, and hotels, and with food suppliers, and even the op shop is just crazy. So I can’t speak highly enough of the economic impact, and it’s in the millions.”

The impact even extends to younger students who are just starting out in the tourism industry.

“We have students who are studying tourism and are youth welcome ambassadors and gain their first experience of working with tourism both domestic and internationally and that then is fostering a career path for young people into the broader tourism industry which we wouldn’t have without cruise.”

Another huge factor says Meers, is that she hears endless tales of people who visit on a cruise, get a taste of Eden and then can’t help but come back for more.

“Look, it overwhelms us in our regional area how many people who book into caravan parks and motels and say, I was on a cruise last year here and I’ve come back with the family and the caravan.

“And then we’ll have cruise ship after cruise ship. I was here three weeks ago on Ovation or I was here three weeks ago on Royal Princess and now I’m on another ship back here. I was here last year, five years ago, eight years ago, ten years ago.’ I remember you’, they say. It’s crazy.”

How does Eden get the big ships to come?

It hasn’t been an easy task for Eden to get the big ships to come. Apart from just infrastructure, they’ve had to market themselves, even sending people out to represent Eden in Miami.

“There’s been heavy promotion of Eden as a port, both at Sea Trade in Miami by the people that represent us there, by Port Authority of New South Wales in the Blue Highway brochure. We certainly got the Eden name out there.

“And then we do a fair bit of social media and things about visitation and Eden, how fabulous it is.”

Furthermore, through creating the best guest experience possible, Eden ensures that it gives guest an experience to remember, scores high on customer feedback surveys and gets ships coming back.

“When we started this, we wanted to make our port different. And so we have a very strong volunteer welcome ambassador program and every ship gets an extremely warm welcome. We just don’t miss a beat on that.

“We’re always there. We’re always there. welcoming you, giving you directions, giving you tips of what to do there for the day. We never have a ship visit and nobody is there to say ‘welcome to Eden’.”

Given that Royal Caribbean and Carnival run many three-day cruises to ‘nowhere’ out of Sydney, this offers an opportunity for Eden to get more visits.

“I mean, what better way to have a single port visit cruise than to come to somewhere beautiful like Eden rather than stay at sea.

“Yes, the ships are stunning and to stay on board those is amazing, but what a lovely opportunity just to see somewhere else than where you live. You’re only here for six or seven hours and you get this snapshot of a beautiful location that maybe you can return to one day for a longer holiday.

“So of course we’d welcome that opportunity to have those cruises to nowhere if you want to sense that.”

How can other ports achieve this?

Meers gives her advice to other ports and communities that want to grow and attract more cruise ships.

“My advice is to embrace it. Ensure your community is behind and supportive of it. And then you know, start. 

“Start the journey and see how it unfolds and identify how you want to operate from the beginning to the future so that you can maintain a consistent approach and tweak where necessary. But look, the ride is just amazing and we love every minute that our cruise ships come into port and visit our community.”