Tourism chiefs attack Melbourne port after collapse of cruise calls next season

• News outlets and tourism industry figures in Victoria are calling for action after Cruise Passenger’s story of reduced cruise calls was reported on TV.
• The calls include a reduction in Melbourne port charges, which sparked the big move away from Melbourne port.
• There are calls for “significant investment” into Melbourne’s cruise facilities.

A Cruise Passenger investigation that revealed the imminent significant decline in Melbourne port cruise visitors next season has led to mainstream media outlets and the cruise industry calling on the Victorian Government for “major changes”, such as port renovations and reduced port fees.

The report last month by Cruise Passenger revealed that the number of turnaround cruises in Melbourne would drop from 43 this season to just 13 next season, and that total capacity for turnaround cruises would reduce from 91,190 in the 2024/2025 season to just 25,217 next season. These numbers were used by The Herald Sun and Channel Seven News in reports that called for a change in the management of cruise ships by the port and Victorian state government.

Margy Osmond, Chief Executive from the Tourism and Transport forum told Seven News: “One of the things the cruise ship industry really needs above anything else is certainty, they need to know what fees are going to be like and they need to know what facilities are going to be like.

“They need to plan these trips years in advance, because they sell years in advance.”

Commenting on the 70% loss of turnaround cruise traffic that was revealed in the report, Osmond said: “It’s a massive loss of revenue to the state and I think what it does is impact on the rest of the tourism industry. Because cruise is a critical part of that industry but it’s all the people that get off the ships and go to restaurant, go to shows, go to big sporting events, use transport, go shopping, all of those people contribute to the wider economy.”

Osmond particularly called for an upgrade to facilities, viewing the current Melbourne cruise port as “no longer fit for purpose”.

“I think it would be fair to say that current facilities, the wharf, it’s a gorgeous historical building, but it’s no longer fit for purpose, it needs very significant investment. Now if those port fees had been hypothecated into upgrading the facilities for such a big money spinner for Victoria, people would be feeling a lot better about it.”

The executive also made the point that less cruise ship visits to Melbourne can mean less visits to regional locations as well.

“Less ships coming to Melbourne potentially means less ships going to regional ports and visiting lots of wonderful regional locations on the Victorian coast.”

As explained here, it does appear that the rise in port fees don’t tell the whole story, as a port such as Sydney has exceptionally higher fees and isn’t facing similar problems.

Although, with cruise capacity declining in Australia, and the port of Brisbane having a rapid rise to become by far Australia’s second busiest port, the landscape has become more competitive and without changes or investments, Melbourne and Victoria will undoubtedly see a significantly lower share of the income that comes from the cruise industry.

What is Victoria saying?

Within Victoria, opinions vary.

Victorian Tourism Industry Council chief executive Felicia Mariani told The Herald Sun that such a sharp drop in cruise traffic is “unacceptable”. She said: “We have taken our eye off the ball as a destination.”

However, a government spokeswomen appeared less bothered.

“Tourists spent a record high of $39.7 billion in Victoria last year and Victoria is outpacing the rest of Australia as international travellers continue to flock to our state. The cruise sector is no exception.”

While this statement fails to address the upcoming plunge in cruise traffic, the statement about thriving tourism in Victoria is accurate.

January 2025 was the busiest ever year for Melbourne’s Airport, with 3,393,977 passengers arriving. This represents a 14% increase on the previous year for international visitors to the airport.

Many airlines such as Turkish Airlines, Vietjet, Cebu Pacific, China Southern, China Airlines and more have upped their capacity to Melbourne airport.

This could demonstrate a concerted effort by Melbourne to have more tourists travelling by land rather than by sea, or it could represent a missed opportunity to get international visitors onto ships and into other regions in Australia as well.