A popular bakery in the historic Tasmanian town of Richmond is proof small businesses are part of the cruise industry’s value chain. The iconic Richmond Bakery’s business has slumped by half since cruise ships stopped coming, and bringing their dozens of coachloads of pax per day. “It has left a...
A popular bakery in the historic Tasmanian town of Richmond is proof small businesses are part of the cruise industry’s value chain.
The iconic Richmond Bakery’s business has slumped by half since cruise ships stopped coming, and bringing their dozens of coachloads of pax per day.
“It has left a big hole for us because each year the number of cruise visitors was increasing so on cruise days we could average 12 buses because Richmond, being an historic town, was added on to a number of local tours,” said proprietor Kim Kay.
“It has hit us pretty hard especially from that Dec through to the end of Mar period when we received the bulk of cruise visitors.
“The tour coordinators and bus companies would send me the details of how many passengers to expect and I would distribute that information to the other places in Richmond so that they could put on extra staff if they wished.”
Carnival Australia President Sture Myrmell said The Richmond Bakery’s experience was strong evidence the cruise economy was both deep and wide in terms of its reach and value.
Myrmell said Kay’s circumstance confirmed many of the businesses that benefited from cruising were small family owned-and-operated enterprises.
