Passengers disembark from the Celebrity Solstice at the Port of Tauranga. Photo / NZME
Passengers disembark from the Celebrity Solstice at the Port of Tauranga. Photo / NZME
The cruise ship season is unlikely to happen for at least another 11 months but the region should start preparing now, a Bay of Plenty tourism boss has told local leaders.
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan told a Western Bay of Plenty District Council meeting last weekthat despite the loss of international tourism, and some domestic, due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreaks, the region had fared well.
It could be as early as October 2022 before cruise ships return to Tauranga, tourism boss says. Photo / NZME
Tourism Bay of Plenty's annual report shows a 19 per cent increase in total visitor spend in the year to June. This was higher than the national average of 4 per cent and driven by a roughly 28 per cent increase in spend from the domestic market. By comparison, there had been a 70 per cent reduction in international visitor spend.
"Spending has actually been better performing than other regions because of the market and our visitors ... mostly domestic," Nathan said.
But now was not the time to rest on laurels, he said.
"Cruise is not likely to return until October 2022. There's a lot of work to be done there."
Nathan, a board member of Cruise NZ, also referred to plans for a Flavours of Plenty food festival in April to celebrate local produce from the Bay's "fruit bowl". It would also work towards ensuring the Bay was known as more than "just sand and beaches", he said.
Councillor Mark Dean said there appeared to still be "an awful lot of nervousness about cruise ships returning" in the climate of Covid. He asked Nathan what was being done to allay nerves.
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan. Photo / Supplied
Nathan responded: "These are conversations we need to have and we haven't had them yet."
Nathan said for many people, the thought of cruise ship tourism invoked memories of Ruby Princess and Diamond Princess - ships linked to some of the largest Covid-19 clusters on both sides of the Tasman and Japan during the pandemic's first wave.
"That's the last time anybody's really heard about cruises.
"The issue for us is we need to reimagine [cruise ship tourism] and realise that 85 per cent of the cruise market is back on the water.
"It's probably safer to be on a cruise ship on the Meditteranean than it is to walk around New Zealand at the moment."
Tauranga House of Travel owner-operator Shane Kennedy said there were already a lot of advanced bookings made in anticipation of the cruise ships' returns.
Kennedy said cruise ships were an important segment of the whole leisure industry "but shouldn't just be valued on financial benefits alone.
"Rather a restoration of the pleasure and lifelong memories cruising offers shouldn't be underestimated or undervalued".
House of Travel owner and operator Shane Kennedy says there is plenty of interest in cruise ships returning to the Bay of Plenty. Photo / George Novak
Cruise ship tourism contributed $90 million to the local economy in 2018/19, becoming the second-largest total spend by port in New Zealand.
Kennedy said there was a real risk of overthinking the market but changes already made due to Covid-19 were sensible and worked.
"Fundamentally as every cruise passenger is now vaccinated and considered Covid-free, and if just about every resident here has taken the same approach ... we should be planning to give this industry a warm welcome and allow the joy of cruising - and the massive benefits of hosting them - to be restored."
Nigel Busbridge from V8 Trike Tours said he couldn't wait.
"Did I miss the cruise ships? Christ yeah, do I ever. About 87 to 90 per cent of our business comes from cruise ships.
"Without cruise ships we wouldn't be here. That is as simple as that. There's just not enough interest from the Kiwi market to make it viable."
Nigel Busbridge from V8 Trike Tours. Photo / NZME
Busbridge said even though the Tauranga business was in a "lucky position" to not have any finance owing, the past 20 months had been "soul-destroying".
His was just one of many local tourism businesses hard hit, he said.
The eventual return of cruise ships couldn't come soon enough as outgoing costs such as insurance had not stopped.
Busbridge said he struggled to understand why things couldn't be put in place now to ensure an earlier return of cruise ships but he was heartened Tourism Bay of Plenty appeared to be making the right moves.
Tourism New Zealand figures show international visitors usually spend an average of $232 per day while domestic visitor spend an average of $155 per day.
