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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-11-14 Daily Xml
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Cruise Ship Industry

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister advise how the Limestone Coast will benefit from this year's cruise season? Mr Speaker, with your leave and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr McBRIDE: Along our Limestone Coast there are a number of outstanding coastal destinations which can't be visited by large cruise ships but are perfect for smaller expedition-style ships. What work is being done to ensure that towns like Robe and others can benefit from being included on cruise itineraries now and into the future?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:32): I thank the member for MacKillop for his question. We know that cruises are an incredibly important part of our visitor economy, bringing both international and domestic visitors to our shores and injecting tourism dollars. What I particularly enjoy about cruising is the regional dispersal around South Australia, benefiting retail and hospitality and of course those local economies.

We are very excited that Robe is going to be included in these itineraries coming up. Let's just reflect on how important cruising is. In this last season, cruising in South Australia was worth a record-breaking $227 million, an incredibly important part of our tourism infrastructure but also about that visitor expenditure. I always like to say that when people come on a cruise they get a taste of South Australia and they come back and they book a longer trip. Currently, in the 2024-25 season, we are looking forward to 119 cruise and expedition ships scheduled to visit.

We know there are opportunities for South Australian cruise itineraries in our region, and it's really important that we see those great opportunities. We are not just looking at those large cruise vessels that require larger ports like Port Lincoln and of course Port Adelaide but also the smaller vessels that can reach out to those coastal towns.

The benefit of these smaller vessels is that generally they have a lower impact, with only about 600 people on board, and the expedition ships sometimes have only 300 people or less. They are also more likely to be luxury travellers and passengers interested in sustainable and regenerative tourism, an area with the potential for a lot of growth here in South Australia. They want shore excursions that are immersive and sensitive to a region's unique offerings, and they want intimate local adventures and adventurous itineraries, including remote locations like Port MacDonnell and Coffin Bay, which have become incredibly important.

On 24 November 2022 Robe received its first expedition visit since the pandemic, with the Coral Adventurer calling into the Robe marina carrying 100 passengers. There have been some challenges with larger vessels coming into the Limestone Coast due to the wild weather, but we did have some very successful famil trips, with reps from luxury cruise lines Seabourn and Silversea in 2023 and 2024. Both cruise lines have scheduled visits to several South Australian destinations, and I am pleased to report that they have booked in those cruises coming to Robe for the next three years.

Those famils were fantastic, because it let them see exactly what we have on offer. These are small vessels that are more manoeuvrable that can anchor close-up, which allows more flexibility when catering for those windy conditions.

We want to maximise this opportunity, so the SA Tourism Commission is working with the Limestone Coast tour operators to create this premium shore excursion offering for those high-end vessels. One of them coming this year is about $3,000 a day to be part of, and is very focused on food and wine, which is perfect for what we have in South Australia.

We are very dedicated and focused on growing cruising. We have many new ships for the very first time, but there is work to do. Today I had my very first meeting of the South Australian Cruise Attraction Working Group. People such as Phil Hoffman came along, who is very well regarded, as well as Flinders Ports, and we were delighted that people from the ACA and the CLIA joined that. We want to be ambitious in this area, not just for the Limestone Coast but for the whole of South Australia.

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