In what was mainly a positive meeting in Auckland on Friday, travel trade and other stake holders were given the results of a new study that detailed the full value of cruise tourism in New Zealand for the first time, showing a total windfall of $1.37 billion for communities around the country during the 2023-24 financial year.
However it was noted by Debbie Summers, of the NZ Cruise Association Board and ID Tours that cruise visitors to NZ will reduce by 20% this year. Next year the figure is likely to be close to 35%.
In a statement, NZCA chief executive officer Jacqui Lloyd says that although the value of cruise tourism is high, the cruise industry has warned that rising costs and regulatory complexities are hampering the industry in New Zealand, leading to a fall in local cruise ship deployment.
‘While cruise tourism is thriving in the rest of the world, New Zealand is going backwards.’
The just released assessment shows the $1.37 billion included direct expenditure by passengers, crew and cruise lines worth $637.8 million, as well as indirect/induced expenditure of $729.2 million.
It shows that cruise tourism supported a total employment of 9,729 New Zealand jobs last financial year and provided $425.9 million in wages to New Zealand workers.
CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) managing director in Australasia, Joel Katz says the assessment provides the first comprehensive picture of New Zealand’s cruise economy, expanding on the data produced in past years by StatsNZ.
‘Cruise tourism provides enormous economic benefits, not just in the major cities but also dispersed among regional ports and destinations around New Zealand.’
