Great news for cruisers on the Eastern seaboard – the New South Wales government is planning to spend over $10 million on upgrades and produce a plan to lure even more ships to our shores.

They predict an extra 32 ships will call in at Sydney in the next wave seas. But they want to see even more.

The have teamed up with tourism body, Destination NSW to produce a 10-year Cruise Development Plan.

And they intend to spread the benefits.

The Port of Eden on the Sapphire coast is in line for the first trench of money.

It will get new boating infrastructure and improvements to maritime safety in Twofold Bay. As part of a separate $3 million commitment, the Breakwater Wharf will receive an extension to accommodate larger cruise ships

Eden has established itself on the cruising calendar with visits since 2005, and now has a cruise taskforce and cruise greeters. Ships that have visited include Pacific Princess, Oceanic Princess, Orion, Silver Shadow, Silver Cloud, Europa, Seven Seas Mariner, The World, Albatros and the Volendam.

Eden has a cruise taskforce, a team which greets each ship and a wealth of wildlife and food and wine options for visitors.
The NSW Government announcement follows the release of industry statistics, which revealed Australian cruising is achieving record growth levels and is now ranked number one in the world for population 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.