THE Northern Territory Govt is set to take advantage of the growth in cruise tourism with infrastructure being built both in its capital and in regional coastal areas to meet growing demand. Appearing at the recent welcoming ceremony of Coral Expeditions’ Coral Adventurer in Darwin last weekend, the NT’s Minister...
THE Northern Territory Govt is set to take advantage of the growth in cruise tourism with infrastructure being built both in its capital and in regional coastal areas to meet growing demand.
Appearing at the recent welcoming ceremony of Coral Expeditions’ Coral Adventurer in Darwin last weekend, the NT’s Minister for Tourism, Sport and Culture Lauren Moss spoke of the importance of cruise tourism.
“The cruise ship sector contributed an estimated $171.9m in 2018, with Darwin’s…location and close proximity to Asia making it a popular cruise ship port,” she said.
Echoing Moss’ sentiments, Tourism NT’s Scott Lovett, GM for Industry Development said “unlike other Australian destinations, cruises come in our traditional low season so it’s a very welcome injection of people during that time”.
“From a supplier perspective it pumps a lot of money into the economy and from a touring perspective it drops 50,000 passengers into Darwin’s CBD during our low season so it’s very important,” Lovett added.
Lovett told Cruise Weekly there were opportunities for the small ship and expedition cruise sector to add Nhulunbuy into their cruise programs with investment going into the redevelopment of a port located at the north eastern tip of the NT.
“That’ll be a hub for expedition based cruising…for those cruise companies that are looking for really immersive indigenous experiences, Nhulunbuy is well placed for this,” he said.
