arnival Australia is cashing in on Sydney’s growing demand for cruise holidays, announcing on Monday that a third superliner will call the city home before the end of 2010.
The cruise company said that the 63,500-tonne Pacific Pearl would use Sydney as its home port, joining Carnival Australia’s two other superliners.
Chief Executive Ann Sherry said the decision was based on the buoyancy of Sydney’s cruise market.
“[The market] has so much potential as the entry point for the rest of the country that it makes good sense - both from a business perspective as well as delivering economic value - to base the ship in this city”
However, she expressed concerned that the growth of cruising in Australia would be stunted due to the lack of adequate ports in Sydney – ‘the gateway’ to the country.
“The sight of a third superliner making Sydney its home will be yet another visual reminder to governments that cruising is an industry that should be better supported at a time when the rest of tourism is flat”
Carnival Australia forecasts that cruise shipping will bring in $1 billion in economic benefit for 2009, with the figure in the next three to four years to increase to $3 billion.
Statistics released by the International Cruise Council of Australasia earlier this month showed a 26 per cent hike in the number of Australian cruise passengers for 2008 compared to the previous year.
No comments:
Post a Comment