Bay tourism businesses prepare for return of cruise ships as borders open

Hopes are high for a strong return of cruise ship passengers this season as local businesses welcome back the much missed overseas visitor dollars.

Companies that count on tourists have previously shared how they lost up to 80 per cent of business when the borders shut.

Cruise ship operators were given certainty this year that after the borders reopened fully — as they did on Sunday — they could return this October.

New Zealand Cruise Association chief executive Kevin O'Sullivan said 900 port calls are expected nationally this cruise season, which runs from October to April.

This is getting near pre-pandemic numbers, which generated close to $570 million in visitor spending for the year ended June 2019, according to Statistics NZ.

One hundred cruise ships are expected to dock in Tauranga this season. Photo / George Novak

O'Sullivan said pre-Covid, cruise ship port calls had passed 1000 per season and were heading towards 1100.

Large cruise ships were 70-80 per cent booked this season, he said.

Incoming passengers would be mostly Australian at this stage, with US and Europeans also in the mix.

Port of Tauranga said it had 100 bookings between the end of October and April.

This compared with a record season of 116 ship visits in the 2018-2019 season, a spokeswoman said. In the 2019-2020 season, cut short by the pandemic and maritime borders closure, the Tauranga port had 106 visits, with 16 cancelled by the closure.

As of yesterday, the first cruise ship to dock in Tauranga would be Grand Princess on October 26.

It has been two years since those focused on catering to the passengers needed to hibernate or re-focus their offerings.

Amanda Fleming and partner Gavin own Kiwifruit Country, a business showcasing orchards to visitors on tours but when the pandemic hit, things got difficult.

They tried to continue on for about a year, but Amanda said it was "crazy" to do so.

"We went from the busiest February we ever had to zero business."

Now, it was too risky to set up business again she said. Instead, they were working for Kiwifruit Country Tours having taken on the cruise ship side of the business.

Gavin and Amanda Fleming operated Kiwifruit Country at Paengaroa until the pandemic hit. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

She said they were very excited for the return of cruise ship passengers.

"We can't wait."

Kiwifruit Country Tours Graeme Crossman said the excursions were sold on the ships and, minus the past two years, had been giving the tours to cruise ship passengers for 18 years.

"We expect a swift and solid return to cruise with pent-up demand."

Cruise lines had been upgrading and so had his business, he said.

As soon as the border had closed they began working on new offerings, including four locally focussed tours.

He said passengers were wanting to stay local for a shorter trip, instead of heading to Rotorua for the day.

"There are some pretty big numbers coming."

He expected the strength in numbers would only increase the season after this year's.

Between 35 to 40 per cent of passengers arriving in Tauranga by cruise ship chose to also visit Rotorua.

Rotorua Economic Development chief executive Andrew Wilson previously told NZME cruise ship passengers that disembarked at the Port of Tauranga spent $90m in the 2018/19 season making them a significant contributor to the Bay of Plenty region's visitor economy.

Zorb manager Kelly Hemana said the cruise ships would hopefully bring people to New Zealand in numbers "we haven't seen for two and a half years".

"It's going to be amazing," Hemana said.

"Hopefully it's going to pull us out of the hole we've been in."

Hemana said Zorb was hoping they would be able to find enough staff in time.

"It is really hard. We're gearing up to find staff early to make sure we're ready to go."

The association's O'Sullivan said the description of cruise ships as Covid breeding grounds had "dogged" the sector but on-board vaccination and testing protocols were stringent compared to onshore these days. Vessels also had quarantine facilities.

"The world has changed. Passengers themselves seem pretty happy how things are being handled."

The association used to do economic modelling on cruise ship visits but stopped the practice because macro-economic and micro-economic findings were so unaligned.

Economic expectations for the coming season were not dissimilar to the 2017 cruise ship season. However it was still early days, he said.

"It's up there. There's a lot of water to go under the bridge yet ... but it's probably getting close to half a billion dollars."

- Additional reporting Maryana Garcia