- Townsville has invested big to open the town to cruise
- Cunard will be the fist big ship to visit next year
- Queensland is second only to Sydney as ports we want to visit
When Cunard’s magnificent Queen Elizabeth becomes the first big cruise ship to navigate Townsville’s newly widened shipping channel on January 14, a familiar face will be there to greet the ship’s company including Captain Stephen Howarth.
Ann Sherry, former Carnival Australia CEO and now Chair of the Port of Townsville, will participate in the traditional plaque exchange between the ship and the Port to mark Queen Elizabeth’s maiden arrival in the North Queensland city.
Queen Elizabeth’s call is the culmination of a $251 million Channel Upgrade Project to increase the capacity of the Port of Townsville including attracting large cruise ships to capture the economic benefits of cruise tourism.
The Port of Townsville is Northern Australia’s largest container and automotive port, and the country’s leading exporter of copper, zinc, lead, sugar, fertiliser and molasses. Located in the heart of Northern Australia’s largest city, the Port handles more than 30 diverse commodities and is a strategic defence and cruise port.
In addition to being Chair of the Port of Townsville, Ann is the Chair of UNICEF Australia and Enero Group and the Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology.
She was appointed CEO of Carnival Australia in 2007 and, in more than 10 years in the role, led the resurgence of cruising setting an ambitious target of one million Australians cruising by 2020. The million-passenger goal was achieved five years early.
Townsville’s tourism industry has been looking forward to Queen Elizabeth’s arrival with great anticipation. Townsville Enterprise, the peak economic development and destination management organisation for the region, has been counting down to the big day.
In an online announcement, Townsville Enterprise said:
The auspicious Queen Elizabeth will traverse Townsville’s newly widened shipping channel on 14 January 2025, bringing almost 3000 passengers and crew to the capital of North Queensland.
The visit will be first of many large cruise ships docking in Townsville, which has been facilitated by the Port of Townsville’s $251 million Channel Upgrade project, which Townsville Enterprise advocated for in recent years.
Townsville Enterprise CEO, Claudia Brumme-Smith said local tour operators were refining their products to cater for the influx of families and multi-generational tourists the Large Class cruise vessels would bring.
“Cruise is an important and growing sector for our local tourism industry, with passengers and crew each spending an average of $200 a day in the region, across tourism experiences, retail, dining, transport services and more,” Ms Brumme-Smith said.
“Our vision for this city has always been to grow our shipping capabilities – including our white ship sector – and with the channel widening now complete this is very much a reality, the next cruise season will see a doubling of visitation from this market alone.”
“Townsville Enterprise, along with key stakeholders, strongly advocated for both the Port of Townsville expansion project and the cruise terminal a number of years ago, and to see the Queen Elizabeth dock into Townsville will be a proud moment for this city.”
The $251 million Channel Upgrade project is a joint project of the State and Federal Governments, and Port of Townsville and forms part of the Townsville City Deal signed in December 2016.
Port of Townsville CEO Ranee Crosby said the channel widening had been pivotal in attracting larger cruise vessels to Townsville, as upon completion vessels up to 300m in length will be able to safely access the Port.
“This project will deliver the largest cruise ships Townsville has seen to date and will be carrying thousands of passengers and crew, which means significant economic injections into our local economy and local businesses” Ms Crosby said.
“This milestone heralds a new era of maritime tourism for the region, promising to boost the local economy and offer visitors an unparalleled experience to explore our region right throughout the year.”
To date, six large ships from three major cruise companies are scheduled to visit Townsville in 2025, to view the full schedule head to Townsville-port.com.au website.
By David Jones
, Being on the first large cruise ship to visit Townsville, we are very excited. We have visited years ago and had to anchor some kilometers off the coast. The trip on the tender was quite long. Looking forward to seeing the new Port at Townsville.