More cruise ships called into Queensland in the last year than any other Australian state, totally at 329 vessels in 2015/16.
“Passenger numbers have already increased by more than 100,000 on the previous year to 776,000, contributing $265 million to the Queensland economy,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
Many ports will double the number of cruise ship arrivals over the next 12 months, with 22 Feb planned to be a mega-ship day for the Port of Brisbane.
“Both the Ovation of the Seas and P&O’s Arcadia will berth here then, bringing 7,300 passengers to our city,” said the state’s Tourism Minister Kate Jone.
“In fact five cruise ships will visit Brisbane over that bumper week, bringing with them 12,600 passengers,” she added.
During 2015/16, Port of Brisbane had a 22% increase in the number of calls, with Cairns receiving 50 cruise ship visits while the Whitsundays had 43, Moreton Island 33, Port Douglas 29, Mooloolaba and Thursday Island seven, Gladstone four, Cooktown and Townsville three, and the Fraser Coast two.
