Bad publicity fails to damage demand for cruising
Following the ongoing inquest into the death of P&O Pacific Sky passenger Dianne Brimble in September 2002 which has revealed an apparent culture of drinking, sex and uncontrolled behaviour and excess on P&O vessels operating out of Australia, there appears to be no medium or long term decline in operators and passengers commitment to cruising.
While there has been a recent dip, cruise experts and operators say that industry forecasts remain strong, a report in Brisbane’s Courier Mail says that cruise booking agency Creative Cruising Group has experienced growth of 15% to 20% over the past 13 years and expects similar during the coming years.
Creative Cruising Managing Director Ernie Skalsky said recent publicity had affected sales but he expected a quick turnaround, adding, “I’m hearing from travel agents a lot of people have either deferred their booking or decided to cancel and I think that’s quite understandable, but I think that the cruise industry will come out of it”.
He added, “I personally don’t believe that even the negative publicity will have an impact, with the local cruise industry set to increase its passenger numbers threefold in the next three to five years and southeast Queensland would gain from most of this growth with the developing cruise ship terminals”.
Economic forecasters AEC Group have foreshadowed double-digit growth for the industry next financial year and last year they projected a 32% increase in cruise ship arrivals to Australian ports, supplying 1600 jobs and fuelling the $228 million industry.
Economist Anthony Cavanough said in the Courier Mail, “The increase had been sustained for cruise ships using Australian ports but the tourist spend had increased more, with Brisbane particularly achieving strong forward estimates”.
Tourism and Transport Forum Australia Managing Director Chris Brown also said passenger growth internationally was one of the fastest growing tourism sectors with an annual value of $17 billion and growth of 8%, adding, “Cruise shipping is particularly valuable to the tourism industry as the majority of passengers are either double-income, middle-aged couples or retirees with high disposable incomes”.
“The tourism yield from cruise ships could be increased if more shops, restaurants and attractions were made accessible to disembarking passengers.”
Report by The Mole
Graham Muldoon
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025