Ports & destinations
Left: A cruise ship moors in Auckland at Princes Wharf, the city's overseas passenger terminal.
Opposite page: Milford Sound, one of New Zealand's most picturesque natural attractions.
With secluded beaches, natural beauty and over a dozen ports of call, it probably felt like the bonanza could go on forever. Then Covid-19 struck, leaving itineraries on hold and vessels motionless. Yet even as much of the planet is still trapped in lockdown, New Zealand’s cruise ships are already setting sail once more. Welcoming passengers on local trips, operators hope to begin cruises to Australia again soon. And why not? Having taken care to totally flatten the curve of coronavirus at home, the country’s ships are now starting to reap the rewards – though there’s still work to be done before New Zealand can truly take its place at the top table of cruise destinations.
“We have many cruise-friendly ports... [They are] wildly different in history, geology and geography, making for exciting itineraries.”
Debbie Summers, New Zealand Cruise Association 28%
Growth of New Zealand’s cruise industry in 2018.
Stats NZ 48
Emerging destination Even a decade ago, New Zealand hadn’t really made its mark on international cruising. Isolated from traditional markets, the country only received 100,000 passengers in 2010. Just nine years on, though, and everything had changed. In 2019, 325,000 travellers explored the country by ship, something Sarina Bratton puts down to a boom in the neighbourhood. “A lot of this growth has been spurred by significant additional cruise ship deployment for Australia, with New Zealand also benefiting from the capacity,” explains Bratton, chair of Asia-Pacific for Ponant.
An aging population and excellent exchange rate mean that one in every 17 Australians now takes a
cruise every year. More to the point, many of these tourists are clearly attracted to their Antipodean cousins. As Bratton notes, 49% of New Zealand’s cruise passengers arrive from Australia, likely a combination of geographic proximity and cultural familiarity. All the same, it’d be wrong to imply that New Zealand’s recent victories are simply the work of outsiders. “Although we are a small country, we have many cruise-friendly ports all within a night’s sail or less of one another,” says Debbie Summers, chair of the New Zealand Cruise Association. “These are also wildly different in history, geology and geography, making for exciting itineraries.”
Look at an itinerary from 2018 or 2019 and you can see what she means. One morning you’re in Doubtful Sound, a fjord where forests tumble down to the sea almost vertically, like a thunderstorm of green. The next you’ve reached Port Chalmers, a handsome colonial town flanked by hills. The third you’re at Akaroa, where hundreds of rare dolphins frolic in the harbour. And all this isn’t even counting New Zealand’s cosmopolitan cities, or the wild places further south. As Bratton notes, the South Island port of Dunedin is a convenient spot to start trips down to Antarctica, an area of “extraordinary wildlife” where people can visit cabins once used by explorers like Scott and Shackleton. At the same time, New Zealand’s cruise industry has been nurtured by the locals. For starters, politicians and insiders have been careful not to tarnish their country’s green credentials. At Ponant, for instance, Bratton and her colleagues have instituted a “zero- impact disembarkation protocol” aimed at preserving “delicate environments and cultures.” That’s shadowed by work with local communities. In Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, environmental groups and cruise lines collaborated to slow down incoming ships, protecting nearby whales.
World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
ChameleonsEye/
Shutterstock.com
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