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Full steam ahead for Australian cruising
Australia is sailing into its busiest ever cruise season.
Ports around the country will see almost 600 visits by cruise ships over coming months.
Figures compiled by the national cruise body, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia, show that its member cruise lines will have a record 34 ships cruising Australian waters between October 1 and April 30, 2014.
Regional ports from Eden in NSW to Geelong in Victoria, Robe in South Australia and Exmouth in Western Australia will see ship visits this season.
CLIA Australasia general manager Brett Jardine said the 2013-14 season would also see an unprecedented 202 roundtrip cruises offered from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle.
"Cruising is a year round industry for Australia now, but a busy summer season like this will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to (Australia’s) economy," Jardine said.
"As cruising grows in popularity we’re seeing new opportunities open up for smaller ports along our coast to share in that growth and build their local tourism," Jardine said.
The new figures come at the start of National Cruise Week, CLIA’s Australia-wide consumer promotion (www.nationalcruiseweek.com.au).
Among the ship visits are 17 maiden port calls by Seabourn Sojourn (visiting Eden, Burnie, Geelong, Kangaroo Island, Bunbury, Geraldton, Exmouth), APT’s MS Caledonian Sky (visits to Darwin, Port Essington, Wessel Islands, Geelong, Macquarie Island, Norfolk Island, Ashmore Reef) and P&O Cruises Pacific Pearl (visiting Robe, Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island).
Ian Jarrett
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