Luke Mangan: All aboard for a recovery

It’s time for Australia to have a serious conversation about cruising as a pathway to ­restart our once vibrant tourism industry.

In 2018/19, the cruise sector contributed more than $5 billion to the Australian economy and provided jobs for more than 18,000 hardworking Australians.

The benefits of the sector are felt well beyond the capital cities with regional economies benefiting from the thousands of passengers who dispersed into some of Australia’s most beautiful ­regional towns.

Cruise passengers spend, on average, $387 each day they are on shore in Australia. The benefits are spread across the tourism industry with retail stores, tour operators and restaurants being some of biggest beneficiaries.

But since the cruising sector has been docked, this lucrative tap has been turned off and the repercussions are being felt far and wide.

The cruise sector contributed more than $5 billion to the Australian economy.

The cruise industry’s army of suppliers — farmers, travel agents, regional destinations, tour operators, hotels, restaurants, transport operators, live entertainers, musicians and retail outlets — are all feeling the effects.

While cruising might be seen as a luxury, for these suppliers it is integral to their livelihoods. These are real people and real businesses.

Steve Biviano from Select Fresh Providores saw business slump by up to 50 per cent when cruising stopped. Farmer Manuel Xerri in Sydney’s far northwest was forced to plough a crop into the ground when there was no longer a market for it.

And Anthony Laffan swapped the cruise ship stage for making pizzas to support his young family and pay the mortgage.

I have extensive experience as a restaurateur on land, named restaurants at sea on P&O Cruises Australia ships, previous commercial relationships with an airline and as a business owner.

Chef Luke Mangan.

And from this experience I know that the same challenges for small business owners are being felt by every business in the hospitality and cruising sectors.

Any industry that can safely contribute to the post-pandemic economic recovery should not be overlooked. Cruising has a proven ­capacity to support a wide range of small businesses that will need all the opportunities they can get.

So why are governments ignoring a vital industry like cruising that is ready, willing and able to restart and in turn provide a much needed economic stimulus for countless small businesses?

Long before the pandemic started the federal and NSW governments had acknowledged the role of Australia’s cruising industry in growing our tourism sector.

In fact, in the 2018/19 federal budget the government committed funding to address cruise capacity constraints in Sydney.

Since then, however, we’ve heard very little from the federal government about their support for the sector. Similarly, the NSW government released a 2018 Cruise Development Plan but now that times are tough they have gone silent.

Perhaps the Ruby Princess situation has caused them to go quiet. They need to recognise that we’ve all come a long way since then.

Cruise passengers spend, on average, $387 each day they are on shore in Australia.

Thanks to the work of medical scientists and public health experts, we now have a much greater understanding of COVID-19 and the precautions we need to take. Not to mention that Australia is heading towards a vaccinated population.

Australia is blessed to have 25,780km of pristine coastline with capital cities and regional destinations dispersed along the coast.

Passengers can enjoy the magnificent Great Barrier Reef or swim with whale sharks at Exmouth. From Cairns in the north to Eden in the south and west to Exmouth, there is no shortage of spectacular cruising experiences in Australia.

Not to mention the eagerness of regional communities to see those big white ships return because they understand the economic prosperity they bring.

You only have to see a cruise call to Eden on the NSW Sapphire Coast to see what the arrival of 2000 passengers with money to spend means to local restaurants and cafes, shore tours and retail outlets.

The town buzzes with Cruise Eden volunteers rolling out the welcome mat.

We have really only just started the enormous fight back from COVID-19. Soaring real estate prices and some good economic numbers could be giving a false sense of security that the battle is already won. Far from it.

If cruising can satisfy regulators with its COVID-safe protocols, why not give the industry a chance to carefully resume domestic cruises?

Or at least get serious about the pathway for this to happen knowing that it will take months for ships to be prepared for their return to service.

If all levels of government want to support those 18,000 people who were directly employed in Australia’s cruising sector, they need to take action and increase their investment in the sector.

The federal government’s Tourism 2030 Strategy recognises that ­capacity constraints, like the lack of berthing facilities and constrained passenger terminals, need to be ­addressed to meet the Tourism 2030 targets.

There is no reason why government couldn’t be making this investment right now. This would provide construction jobs and deliver the infrastructure needed to grow this ­lucrative sector.

Australian cruising could come back bigger and better than before but we need government to act.

Every day we hear politicians talk about how we are all in this together and praise Australians for doing their part to get us to this point. However without action and a sector-by-sector road map for recovery, these words don’t mean much — especially for those not knowing what the future looks like.