IT’S a wrap! Our final cruise restart workshop was held in Sydney last week, a fitting end to our roadshow which saw us traverse every Australian state and territory since early 2022. It is exciting to look in the rear-view mirror and see how far we have come. Our first...
IT’S a wrap!
Our final cruise restart workshop was held in Sydney last week, a fitting end to our roadshow which saw us traverse every Australian state and territory since early 2022.
It is exciting to look in the rear-view mirror and see how far we have come. Our first workshops in 2021 were heavily focused on health protocols and there was a certain sense of “what if?”
This has progressed over time to far more hopeful discussions, with key themes in Sydney being around the plethora of new ships we will see in market and exciting new itineraries being planned.
Over 40 operators and industry members were in the room last week, with the consensus that the rebound is happening a lot faster than originally expected. In fact, the cruise lines are reporting that the 2023/2024 bookings are on track to exceed previous pre-pandemic years.
This also naturally delivers opportunities onshore for our members. While Sydney has traditionally been a turnaround port, there are a growing number of transit calls that allow for greater flexibility in shore excursions. Pre- and post- cruise touring was also discussed as a growth opportunity.
As we wrap, I would like to thank our valued partners — CLIA and Tourism Australia — and all the communities who hosted us, allowing us to convene these important meetings and sample some of the amazing experiences on offer to our cruise visitors.
We have a lot to be hopeful for in 2023 and beyond.
