EDEN’S growth as a cruise destination has been a big win for the town’s small business community, with many local firms showing their support for the sector last weekend.
Sat saw the arrival of Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas (CW yesterday), which delivered more passengers into Eden’s stores, cafes, and eateries than any ship before.
Jackson, who runs Eden’s Great Southern Inn Hotel, said Eden is in full support of the increased scale of cruise ship visitation, following last year’s planning modification which saw larger vessels, such as Ovation, permitted to visit.
“The whole community and the town [are] right behind it,” he told Cruise Weekly.
Cruise’s presence in Eden has also turned the town into a magnet for business activity from the surrounding regions.
Kahli Jensen, who runs Kahli’s Kitchen, a Canberra-based out-of-home bakery, identified Eden’s port days as a viable opportunity to bring a pop-up to the town.
She told CW she was doing “much better” than expected, having already sold half of her stock by mid-morning.
Another local business owner, who preferred to remain anonymous, said Eden becoming a major cruise and tourism exporter is a positive development for the destination.
“The town needs to move forward…back in the day [it was an] industry town, they had fishing and timber…it’s not quite as strong as it was, so we’ve got to head toward tourism.” MS
