Cruise economy boom tipped to grow

The Queen Elizabeth cruise ship in Tauranga Harbour. Photo / NZME.

The cruise sector earned $365.3m last season and supported close to 7000 jobs around New Zealand, according to an industry report.

Spending is forecast to grow to $421 million in the next two years.

This coming summer will see more cruise passengers to New Zealand ports on bigger ships than ever before, according to a new economic impact report released by Cruise New Zealand.

The industry now ranks fourth as an inbound market behind Australia, China and the United States, said Cruise New Zealand general manager Raewyn Tan says.

"The Asia-Pacific region currently accounts for around 8.4 per cent of the global market, is the world's fastest growing cruise region and presents a huge opportunity for New Zealand," she said.

More than 202,000 passengers on 33 ships which made 119 voyages to New Zealand last season.

They spent 699 days at ports around the country.

Australians made up the majority of passengers on 52 per cent, followed by Americans (17per cent) and New Zealanders (10 per cent).

Of the season's total $365.3m spend, passengers accounted for $273m, vessel-related spending was $63.6m and crew-related spend was $28.7m.

It is estimated that the cruise sector supported 6818 jobs in New Zealand.

Watch: Making a Mega Ship - The Quantum of the Seas

Most money was spent in Auckland ($159.1m), due to it being the country's key exchange port where one cruise ends and another starts.

The coming 2014-15 cruise season is expected to see a small increase in total spending to $373.4m, before a dramatic increase the following season to $421.5m, due to a large increase in passenger numbers to 246,800.

Tan said the outlook for 2015-16 showed that 119 voyages will spend 652 port days in New Zealand.

Ships are getting bigger with the average vessel passenger capacity per voyage set to increase from just over 1600 passengers to almost 2000 passengers.

Globally the cruise industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years, with the number of passengers carried more than doubling in the last decade to 21.3 million in 2013.

There are currently 410 ships in operation, with 16 new ships due to be launched in 2014. Current new builds average around 4000 passengers at double occupancy.

Read the full Cruise NZ report here: