Cruise Interest Grows for Southern Great Barrier Reef Destination

Posted on September 11th, 2024

Cruise is an emerging market for the Southern Great Barrier Reef Destination as popularity for cruising grows in the Asia Pacific and globally with interest in new destinations and ports attracting the attention of the cruise line companies. Yet, cruising is still less than 2% of the global holiday tourism market. After attending last year’s Australian Cruise Association (ACA) conference, Capricorn Enterprise has pro-actively hosted three famil visits by shore excursion companies and cruise line representatives (Intercruises in Nov 2023, Shorex Australia in March 2024, Cruise companies in July 2024) to our Capricorn Coast region, working in partnership with our colleagues in the Gladstone region to demonstrate opportunities for both the smaller expedition vessels to Keppel Bay (with shore excursions to Great Keppel Island and the Capricorn Coast), and the larger cruise ships to Gladstone Port (including shore excursions to the Town of 1770/Agnes Water and possibly Rockhampton). Forward planning is up to two years, however we look forward to welcoming Scenic Eclipse II which has permission to dock in Keppel Bay visiting Great Keppel Islanding for a day in March 2025, using their onboard helicopters, submersibles, snorkel, zodiac, kayak etc from the vessel, expedition style.

After attending last week’s ACA conference in Adelaide with a record attendance of 156 delegates, Capricorn Enterprise has already secured three important visits to the Capricorn Coast and Gladstone over the next few weeks; a famil for another cruise line company, welcoming a team Member from ACA, and hosting an operator meeting with the GM of MSQ DTMR.

The ACA Conference theme “Steering Ideas to Success” included four very engaging panels:

State of the Industry (Global challenges and future outlook) – Panelists; Jill Abel ACA, Ben Angell Norwegian Cruise Lines, Teresa Lloyd Carnival, Gavin Smith Royal Caribbean
Steering our Destination to Succes – Panelists; Chad Berkshire Norwegian Cruise Lines, Jessica Ashe Holland America & Seabourn, Tim Jones Celebrity Cruises, Nick Jones SA Tourism Commission
Policies and Procedures – The Governance of Cruise in Australia – Panelists; Josh Dolgoy Royal Caribbean Group, James Larsson Carnival Australia, Kell Dillon MSQ, Samantha Palmer Austrade
Supply Chain – The Broader Picture – Panelists; David Krenich Ponting Wines, David Antico Australian National Produce, Mick Fogg Ponant, Brian Sheedy Vok Beverages

Here’s some interesting quotes:

“we’ll go where we’re welcome”, “it’s not about Sydney or Brisbane – it’s about the itinerary”, “when one succeeds, we all succeed; diversity in the market is great for all of us”, “guests want destination emersion”, “do different versions of the same tour for different cruises”, “recognise the diversity of guests onboard”

Here’s some interesting facts:

Priority to experience destinations and operators which are Eco Accredited is a growing trend.
Global disruption will affect deployment in the next two years – the Asia Pacific is considered a safe destination
New ship builds in the next 6,8,10 years will have a new and younger demographic.
The average age of passengers is 46 years
There are 70 cruise ship newbuilds planned over the next 10 years.
80% of guests are flying to a destination to take a cruise.
80% of the cruise market is with Carnival and Royal Caribbean (including their brands)