WITH Jill Abel, CEO – ACA has long held the view that
regional ports are critical to the
growth of the Australian cruise
industry. It was therefore exciting
to hear the news this week that
the ports of Eden in the south
and Cairns in the north are to
receive assistance with their port
infrastructure development.
The Port of Eden has received
final approval for a $44m upgrade
(CW Tue) which will enable larger
cruise ships to berth at their wharf
facility. This is great news for Eden
which hopes to increase its visits to
40-60 cruise ships annually.
It is also great news for the
broader region. Anthony Osborne,
EO of Sapphire Coast Tourism told
ACA that he sees the upgrade as
an opportunity to create long term
sustainability for the area as a
cruise destination. Additionally he
sees it as a catalyst for investment
and industry development across all
tourism sectors.
This reinforces ACA’s view
that cruising and destination
development go hand in hand & this
is certainly also the case in Cairns.
Ports North’s $120m Cairns
Shipping Development Project
which is being backed by the
Queensland Government, will
greatly expand the current terminal
facilities positioning Cairns to take
advantage of the state’s growing
cruise sector.
The project is slated to create
economic growth through
employment, investment by
adjacent businesses and of course
the tourism dollars which will come
from increasing cruise pax numbers.
Project updates will be provided
at the ACA conference in Sep.
