The NSW government decision to build a cruise ship terminal in Newcastle doesn’t pose a problem for Wollongong’s hopes to enter the market, said Destination Wollongong’s Mark Sleigh.
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On Tuesday NSW Premier Mike Baird announced $12.7 million to build a new multi-purpose cruise ship terminal in Newcastle Harbour.
The news comes just a month before Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas docks at Port Kembla for its maiden visit.
It is hoped it will be the first of many stops, which would give the region a slice of the ever-growing cruise ship market.
Destination Wollongong General Manager Mark Sleigh said the construction of a Newcastle terminal didn't spell bad news for Wollongong’s chances of attracting more cruise ships.
Instead, he said the more ports on the east coast, the more appeal the area held for cruise ship companies.
“I think anything that can facilitate growth in the cruise industry can only be good for the visitor economy in NSW,” Mr Sleigh said.
“Cruise is growing by over 10 per cent a year for the last 10 years. We need to continue to open up capacity.
“What they appear to be building [at Newcastle] is infrastructure that’s very similar to what’s already available at Port Kembla. We’re very lucky that we already have infrastructure available to be able to berth cruise ships of the same size.
“The other thing that we’re always going to have as an advantage is that we’re 60 kilometres from Sydney International Airport, which is always going to be a telling factor for the cruise industry.”
Mr Sleigh said the Illawarra needed to look to the “turnaround” market, where passengers disembark and then new passengers are checked in.
“At the moment the larger cruise ships only turnaround at the overseas passenger terminals [in Sydney],” he said.
“There is no further capacity at the overseas passenger terminals to facilitate the 10 per cent growth that’s occurring each year. The outstanding opportunity for Port Kembla is to fill that gap.”
The $12.7 million to build the Newcastle terminal comes from the Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund.
“This project secures the future of cruise shipping in Newcastle and gives the city and the region the opportunity to compete for the growing east coast tourism trade,” Mr Baird said.