Carnival ships to end Melbourne calls over tax hike

Sunday, 30 Nov, 2023 1

Carnival Corp will ditch port calls in Melbourne over ‘unreasonable’ cruise ship tax rises, it said.

Princess Cruises and Cunard will no longer call in Melbourne from 2025.

Ports Victoria announced a tax hike of 15% from $28.50 per passenger to $32.

The fee increase is effective from 1 January.

Minister for Ports and Freight Melissa Horne said the tax hike would fund maintenance to the historic Station Pier.

“We love Melbourne and so do our local, interstate, and international guests,” said Carnival’s chief strategy officer Teresa Lloyd.

The cruise company has called on the Victoria state government to reconsider.

“We want to be in Melbourne and remain open to finding a long-term solution together with Ports Victoria and the Victorian government.”

According to the latest CLIA data, cruise tourism is worth an economic benefit of $379.5 million annually to Victoria.

Ports Victoria says it is the first increase in nearly three years.

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