New Zealand Cruise Industry “deeply Concerned” As Ship Visits Plummet 40%

• The future of New Zealand cruise has questions marks over it as port calls drop 40% over just two seasons.
• Despite cruise growing globally, New Zealand is going in the opposite direction.
• Possible reasons for this include reduced cruise visits to Australia, rising costs and government regulations

The New Zealand Cruise Association has laid bare all the issues that are currently plaguing its industry, and revealed that forecast port bookings are set to drop 40% from the 2023/2024 season.

NZCA Chair Tansy Tompkins writes of how while cruise is enjoying growth across the globe, New Zealand appears to be moving in the opposite direction.

The organisation is so concerned they are sending a big delegation to the Miami cruise conference to tackle the cruise lines in their home town to try and persuade them to return.

“The 2025/26 forecast reinforces the very real concerns NZCA has been raising since the post-covid restart.  Bucking the global trend of dynamic cruise tourism growth, New Zealand’s booking momentum has slowed significantly, and while final itineraries are still being confirmed, current projections indicate a major downturn.

“The sharp drop in forecast bookings – over 40% lower than our bumper 2023/24 season – has many in the industry deeply concerned about the future.”

The numbers can be seen below that show how from the 2023/2024 season, through to the 25/26 season, which is about five months away, bookings have fallen off a cliff.

This of course in turn leads to fewer passenger days, fewer vessels and fewer unique guests.

This is especially problematic for the industry as even its successful 2023/2024 season hadn’t fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and the current forecasts for the 2025/2026 season show passenger days are set to be lower than in 2017/2018.

Why is New Zealand dropping so rapidly?

The New Zealand Cruise Association offered four reasons for the decline, as well as some other potential factors.

• Biofouling risks: While fewer ships are being turned away, ships are still concerned about being denied entry after previous cruise seasons had many ships turned away for new environmental protection regulations.
• Uncertainty: Given that cruise lines need to organise years in advance, the constant changing of NZ cruise regulations, as well as a looming possibility of a Milford Cruise ban make it difficult for lines to plan ahead.
• Executive-level perception: The association feels that senior cruise like executives have the perception that New Zealand is a difficult place to operate a cruise line.
• Rising costs: Costs across central government agencies, port fees, regional authorities and more are making it more expensive to cruise in New Zealand, with the association stating “New Zealand is now the most expensive place in the world for a cruise ship to visit”.
• Other factors: Geopolitical disruptions to ship positioning and the weak position of the Australia and New Zealand dollars.

Furthermore, another factor appears to be that with cruise capacity declining in Australia, this will obviously have a flow-on effect to New Zealand, as the vast majority of cruise to New Zealand come from Australia.

New Zealand’s used to have Pacific Explorer homeport for at least a few weeks a year, but with the ship has now retired due to the end of P&O Australia. With Carnival focusing their operations around Sydney and Brisbane, New Zealand appears unlikely to have a large ship home porting in the near future.

It would appear clear that coordinated efforts is needed across both the Australian and New Zealand cruise industries, as well as their respective governments, in order to ensure it remains a region of the world that is attractive to cruise lines.

Could cruise be banned from Milford Sounding?

The NZCA fights for cruise

The New Zealand Cruise Association is fighting to ensure New Zealand cruise stays in the conversation and doesn’t become an issue tossed to the side.

The association is maintaining close contact with the Tourism and Hospitality Minister, as well as other relevant government bodies.

CEO of the association Jacqui Lloyd has even just travelled to Miami, where she has specifically worked to advertise the Port of Auckland and its plans for an updated cruise terminal.

Furthermore, the association will be at Seatrade Miami in April, bringing a record-number of people with it.