If the number of cruise ships scheduled to call in Townsville this year is any indication, the cruise tourism industry is in good health.

Port of Townsville Limited Chief Executive Officer, Barry Holden has confirmed that one cruise ship has already called at the Port this year and another nine cruise ship calls are expected during 2009.

“The Nautica kicked off cruise visits for 2009 on 2 January with the vessel scheduled to be back in Townsville on 11 February 2009” Mr Holden said.

“Five of the ten scheduled calls will not berth in the Port but will anchor offshore and bring passengers ashore by ferry, as is the practice in many Australian and overseas ports”.

Vessels scheduled to call are:-

During 2008, a total of seven cruise ships called at Townsville. Of these, four anchored offshore. Mr Holden also confirmed that a number of Australian and US naval vessels were expected to call at Townsville as part of Exercise Talisman Saber 2009 scheduled to be conducted in July 2009. Details of vessels and expected dates are not available at this time.

Townsville Enterprise CEO Glenys Schuntner noted that the cruise industry is a positive story for tourism in Australia. According to a 2008 AEC report commissioned by Cruise Down Under, during the last fiscal year ending June 2008 there was an increase of 58% in the total number of passenger days at port and a 48% increase in the total number of crew days at port across Australia.

Passengers also increased their spending to $158.7 million while the crew also increased spending to $26.2 million. Ship operators increased spending to $139.3 million.

Ms Schuntner said that “as the Regional Tourism Organisation representative on the Queensland Cruise Shipping Plan Advisory Group in 2007/08, I have been involved in the development of the cruise strategy in the state and believe that there are many opportunities for our state as a whole and Townsville in particular to secure more business in the future.”

Ms Schuntner advised that Townsville Enterprise is planning to develop a cruise strategy in coming months in partnership with Tourism Queensland and local tourism operators to ensure the region can offer a unique and quality experience to attract more ships in the future.

A dedicated ocean terminal will assist in attracting more cruises, but we can also support “anchorages” as other regions do both north and south of Townsville. Our local tour operators and retailers will certainly benefit from increasing the cruise business, Ms Schuntner said.