| 3 Port Tauranga T T Hugh de Lacy Cruise ships make a welcome return Welcome back: the first ship to return in October 2022 was the Majestic Princess. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Proud to support Port of Tauranga, now and in the future TEL 64-9-256 0861 | 07 5749623 www.burnard.co.nz There were few more welcome sights to the businesses and citizens of Tauranga than that of the first giant holiday cruise ships arriving at the Port of Tauranga last October since the suspension of sailings in March 2020 because of the global Covid pandemic. The October-to-April cruise ship season has long been a boon to the City of Tauranga and coastal Bay of Plenty, while making a perfect fit with the Port of Tauranga’s April-to-October kiwifruit export season. Between them, cruise ships and kiwifruit charter vessels usually occupy the Number One Berth, the port’s northern-most, yearround, and the suspension of cruise ship sailings left a hole in the port’s shipping schedule. The 2022-2023 season went a long way to filling that hole with 91 cruise ship visits, slightly down from the scheduled 100 visits because of the North Island’s shocking weather events this year. The first ship to return in October 2022 was the Majestic Princess. The record number of visits for any year was the 116 of 2018-2019, and that might have been matched or beaten by the 20192020 total were it not for the early end to that season in March of that year. “The cruise industry in Tauranga has quickly bounced in the 2022-2023 season, helped by the arrival of the two huge Royal Caribbean sister ships Ovation of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas,” Port of Tauranga communications manager Rochelle Lockley says. These behemoths are 348m long and each carries 4900 tourists and a crew of 1300. “They were the biggest arrivals this season, with others ranging in size down to fewer than 200 passengers. “Altogether they make a huge contribution to tourism, hospitality, transport and retail businesses throughout the Bay of Plenty,” Rochelle says. Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson endorses that view, adding that after the long absence nothing was more cheering to the locals than the “spectacular sight” as cruise ships “enter and depart Te Awanui Tauranga Harbour.” The financial cost of the suspension of cruising for two years was felt not just locally, but throughout the country. In the 2019-2020 season the cruise industry injected a whopping $547 million into the country’s economy, with the tourism, transport and retail sectors being the prime beneficiaries. Coastal Bay of Plenty enjoyed the second-highest share of the cruise-ship spend-up, behind Auckland, with the 2018-2019 season contributing $89 million to the local economy. Maximising the value for Tauranga and the region is the close relationship between the Port of Tauranga and the regional promotion organisation Tourism Bay of Plenty. “We partner with Tourism Bay of Plenty in the on-wharf activity that follows the cruise ships’ arrival: they stage formal greetings for some cruises and run a visitor centre on the wharf where they can book local tours,” Rochelle says. For the arrival of the first ship of the season, the Majestic Princess’ 3560 passengers were welcomed by a haka powhiri from Maori group Te Reo Whakakoko o Mauao, an affiliate of Tauranga Moana mana whenua (locals) from the Ngaiterangi, Ngati Ringinui, Ngati Pukenga and other iwi. Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan, who is also a New Zealand Cruise Association board member, rates it “a privilege” to host summer cruise ”manuhiri (visitors) and to impress them with the manaakitanga (hospitality) that the region is renowned for.
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