Cruise lines boost Australian presence in a big year for cruising
Australia is heading into a bumper year of cruising in 2024, as cruise lines offer more local ships, more sailings and more cabins.
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Managing Director in Australasia Joel Katz said this year was likely to be one of Australia’s busiest for cruise tourism, with cruise lines making significant capacity increases in their 2024 deployments.
“We will see 81 cruise ships operating in Australian waters over the course of 2024, which is 14% more than last year,” Mr Katz said. “Many of these ships will be staying longer and offering more local sailings, which means Australia will welcome more than 3,700 port calls around the country – an 18% increase over last year.”
Mr Katz said the result was a wealth of cruising options for cruise fans and an enormous economic potential for communities around the Australian coast.
“The total cruise passenger capacity in Australia this year will be up by 42% over 2023, which reflects the huge passion Australians have for cruising and the strong overseas interest in sailing down under,” Mr Katz said. “Cruising delivered a record economic impact worth $5.6 billion to the national economy last financial year, and all signs suggest cruise tourism will continue to be enormously valuable to Australia throughout 2024 and well beyond.”
Internationally, 2024 will bring a succession of new ships entering service as cruise lines continue to invest billions of dollars in a more advanced and sustainable world fleet.
Having launched 13 new ocean cruise ships in 2023, CLIA cruise lines are preparing to welcome a further nine over the year ahead.
“The incoming fleet of new ocean ships illustrates the huge diversity of cruising styles available to today’s traveller around the world,” Mr Katz said.
“This year’s launches include a mix of contemporary ships, luxury ships and expedition ships, from an equally broad range of cruise lines,” he said. “Together these ships will be among the most advanced and energy-efficient ships to have ever sailed, and the choices they offer demonstrate why there is a cruising style to suit almost any taste.”
(Cruise lines boost Australian presence in a big year for cruising – CLIA Australasia)
