NZ operators fight attempts to halt cruise in Milford Sound as government dithers

• Tourism operators in Milford Sound are fighting back against government inaction
• A new organisation Destination Milford Sound doesn’t support a ban on cruise, and has a range of other proposals for improving the infrastructure, tourist experience and sustainability plan of the region.
• A ban on cruise in Milford Sound would have grave consequences for the Australian cruise industry.

Alarm bells went ringing through the cruise industry when it was revealed that the New Zealand tourism minister was considering a proposal for tourism in the Milford Sound region that includes a plan to ban cruise ships. 

The Milford Opportunities Project wants to ban cruises from Milford Sound to “prohibit cruise ships from entering Milford Sound Piopiotahi as it is causing visual impacts that are not in keeping with the beautiful natural setting and intent of the vision of the plan.”

Approval of the Milford Opportunities Project would have grave consequences for the Australian cruise industry.

Major cruise lines such as Carnival Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and more operate a high percentage of their Australian cruises to New Zealand, where Milford Sound is arguably the star attraction. If ships weren’t able to visit New Zealand, this would have knock-on consequences for the Australian cruise industry. 

Tourism operators in the area say they are fed up with a lack of action and certainty. The Milford Opportunities Project has been considered for more than six years, and there is still no word from the government on which parts of the plan, if any, will be implemented. This is creating doubt and uncertainty in both the cruise and the larger tourism industry. 

Now a range of tourism operators and industry stakeholders have banded together to form Destination Milford Sound, and propose their own plan for the region. Their plan outlines a range of ways to improve tourist infrastructure while minimising environmental impact, and does not involve a ban on cruise. 

Destination Milford Sound chairman Mark Quickfall told Cruise Passenger he doesn’t think the cruise ban will go ahead but can’t offer any guarantees. 

“I think cruise ships will find that they’re not going to be suddenly told not to come to Milford overnight, it’s not my call, but that’s the gut feeling I get.”

“I think events have overtaken the Milford Opportunities Project plan. I think the government here now is very supportive of tourism and the fact that tourism is such a big part of our economy and we need it to succeed. 

“It’s great having visitors to New Zealand, it creates a lot of employment, they go home as advocates for our country. There are more good reasons to encourage tourism and manage it correctly, so we need good plans and infrastructure. But time marches on quickly, we need to get these plans into gear and we need some investment.”

Milford Sound Tourism chief Haylee Preston told 1News that Milford Sound is already back up to 96% of pre-Covid cruise passenger numbers and that this was presenting “severe infrastructure challenges”.

He says ongoing delays from the government make it difficult to have certainty over future plans, something which is very important for the cruise industry.

“We can’t invest when we don’t have any certainty around the future plans because we don’t understand what those plans are.”

Glenorchy Air managing director James Stokes echoes the same sentiment: “Those cruise passenger numbers are starting to creep up, and we do need to take some action to improve the infrastructure for the visitor experience.”

Stokes says in general, tourism operators in the area need some certainty and security over their futures.

“The tourism operators need to get some security of tenure… So that we can invest in improving the infrastructure, improving our experiences.

“If we don’t know that we’re going to be still operating in two or three years because our concessions haven’t been renewed, we can’t invest.”

While New Zealand appears to have resolved the particular issue that plagued its previous season, that being the strict new biosecurity laws that saw many ships turned away at its borders, it does have a new set of challenges. 

New Zealand Customs last year imposed new processing fees, especially for cruise, which many in the industry worried could heavily reduce. cruise ship visits. Despite protests the fee did go ahead and now provides a further barrier for cruise ships and cruise lines that want to visit the region.

The uncertainty over Milford Sound only puts more questions marks over the future of NZ cruise and the sooner it can be resolved, the sooner cruise lines and tourism operators will be able to begin forward-planning for the region with more assuredness.