Not many 7-year-olds get to see Santa arrive on the North Star, hovering 90 metres above sea level in a jewel-like capsule, but that is exactly how Josh Warhurst spent Christmas Day on board mega-cruise ship Ovation of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever to sail New Zealand waters.
The Bay of Plenty is set for a bumper cruise ship season, with more than 100 ships scheduled to visit - providing a multimillion-dollar boost to the local economy.
The 2023-2024 season begins today with the arrival of the Royal Princess. The ship is due to sail into the Portof Tauranga at 6.15am, with about 3600 passengers and 1350 staff onboard.
The 330-metre-long British and American-owned cruise liner, operated by Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of the British-American cruise operator Carnival Corporation Ltd,is the first of 112 cruise ships scheduled to visit the Bay this summer season, which runs until April 17.
The Royal Princess is also one of the 14 cruise ships due to make their maiden voyages to Tauranga between October 18 and March 21.
Five cruise ships will also have overnight stays in Tauranga including the Heritage Adventurer due to arrive on November 10.
”We are excited for our guests to visit Tauranga and enjoy all the wonderful attractions the area has to offer.”
Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson said there were 112 cruise vessels scheduled to visit.
“Last summer, which was the first season post-Covid, we had 88 visits - slightly fewer than expected, as some calls were cancelled due to extreme weather,“ he said.
“Our record cruise season was the 2018-2019 summer when 116 cruise ships visited and there were 106 visits during the 2010-2020 season, which had to be cut short due to the spread of the Covid pandemic,” Sampson said.
“The largest vessels to call this season are 330 metres in length but we regularly have vessels up to 348 metres long visiting during the season.”
Sampson said cruise ships were a small percentage of the vessels welcomed to the Port of Tauranga.
“However, cruise ship passengers are an important source of revenue for the Bay of Plenty and Waikato tourism industries, which really suffered during the Covid pandemic,” he said.
“Cruise ships are also a spectacular sight for locals as they enter and depart Te Awanui Tauranga Harbour. The Royal Princess will be departing Tauranga at 5.45pm tonight, if any Pilot Bay picnickers or Mauao walkers want to watch the vessel leave for its next port.”
Sampson said the Port of Tauranga employed about a dozen extra causal staff to join the Port’s security team during the season.
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan.
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said it was “extremely exciting” to see the return of the cruise ships which brought vibrancy to the region and enabled local tourism operators and retailers “to thrive”.
“We’re expecting the 2023/24 cruise season will bring approximately 290,000 passengers and crew into our region. This won’t be a record number, based on previous seasons, but it will be close. We’d like to welcome locals to join us at Waikorire [Pilot Bay] to farewell the Royal Princess when it departs this evening.”
Nathan said the estimated economic benefit to the Coastal Bay Plenty region from the 2023/2024 season was difficult to predict as the updated figures for the 2022-2023 cruise season had not yet been released because of a change in Stats New Zealand’s data policy.
“But if cruise ship passenger arrivals were treated like aviation arrivals, they would rank as NZ’s second-largest visitor market - behind Australia and ahead of North America,” he said.
“During the 2019/2020 season, the cruise industry contributed $74 million to the local economy but that season was cut short by the initial emergence of Covid-19, and more than $89m during the 2018/19 season,” Nathan said.
Newly appointed manager of Downtown Tauranga, Genevieve Whitson, said businesses were looking to highlight “speciality products and services” that could only be found in the downtown city centre and to provide a unique experience for the cruise ship passengers.
“We are excited to see the cruise ship season beginning as it will be very warmly welcomed by local businesses from an economic perspective who have experienced a lot of disruption over recent times.”
Kiwiana Gifts and Souvenirs owner Ian New said cruise ship passengers were “good for the businesses” and noticed an increase in customers during the season.
”I think it will be a really good season. Get some really good weather and the people will enjoy it here in the Mount and Tauranga.”
Mount Business Association chairwoman Kate Barry-Piceno said retailers were getting “really excited” about the first cruise ship arriving. .
“Some retailers were planning to write some signs to welcome passengers to Mount Maunganui,” she said.
”The larger ships always bring a sense of excitement and not just the people on the cruise ships themselves, but locals like to come and shop and come and visit the ships. So it’s definitely a drawcard to bring people into the Mount.”
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley.
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said cruise tourists provided an “extra boost”.
Cowley also had some advice for business owners to ensure they took full advantage of the return of the cruise ship visitors.
“Understand your target market and find the best ways to capture their attention – be it advertising through the formal cruise channels, as they’ve made the original cruise purchase, or in other physical hotspots. This goes for all tourism markets, including the dominant domestic tourism market.”
Rotorua Business Chamber chief executive Bryce Heard said the tourism and hospitality sector was still in a “rebuilding mode” following the overhanging impacts of the Covid pandemic.
“Therefore, all contributors to the sector are welcomed with open arms. While the cruise ship business is not a lead player in the Rotorua economy, it is nevertheless an important element of it.
“Rotorua’s tourism and hospitality sector is gearing up for a big summer – so there will be no shortage of things for our visitors to do. Bring it on.”
