Tourism bosses sound alarm on drop in cruise ships using Melbourne as home port

Tourism bosses and Australia’s largest cruising operator are sounding the alarm over a sharp drop off in cruise ships using Melbourne as a home port — and they are pointing the finger at one particular tax.

Tourism bosses and Australia’s largest cruising operator have sounded the alarm on the Victorian government’s failure to lure big ships to Melbourne, warning a historic lack of investment needed to be urgently addressed.

Speaking at a forum on-board Carnival’s Royal Princess on Monday, senior industry heads called on the Allan government to signal a desire to get serious on cruise tourism in a bid to compete with other states for a share of the highly lucrative market.

But they warned a lot of work was needed for Melbourne to become an attractive cruising destination, including an overhaul of the outdated Station Pier which pales in comparison to the purpose built cruise ship terminals at Sydney Harbour and the Port of Brisbane.

The warning comes as Melbourne faces a cruise ship exodus, which has largely been driven by an Allan government cash grab to increase port fees by an extra 15 per cent.

Tourism bosses have sounded the alarm on the health of Victoria’s cruise industry. Picture: Carnival

The added charge, which was revealed by the Herald Sun, immediately forced Carnival Australia to pull several of its visits into the city.

Virgin Voyages also called Melbourne home for a season before it too vanished.

The tax, which came into effect from last year, has already had big repercussions for Victoria’s cruising market.

The state is expected to lose millions in revenue as it braces for a 70 per cent plunge in the number of ships that will use the city as a home port next season.

Throughout the 2024-25 cruise season, 43 ships used Melbourne as a home port city, meaning about 91,190 passengers embarked and disembarked here.

Just 13 ships — about 25,000 people — will do so in 2025-26.

Cruise ship operators sell their tours years in advance and are currently in the process of finalising their itineraries for the 2027-28 season.

Carnival Australia’s chief strategy officer Teresa Lloyd said the Victorian government needed to provide industry with confidence and certainty that Melbourne could become a viable destination for future voyages.

“Something needs to shift in order to encourage the (cruise) lines to come back to Melbourne,” she told the Herald Sun.

Melbourne will host 13 ships in 2025-26. Picture: Brendan Beckett

It’s expected that just 67 cruises will transit into Melbourne for day trips next summer.

Tourism and Transport Forum Australia chief Margy Osmond said a “historic lack of investment” from government was to blame for the big cruising companies skipping Melbourne in favour of Brisbane and Sydney.

“The Victorian government’s response to the cruise industry has been pretty underwhelming,” she said.

“Australia as an organism works best when all of its component parts work together. At the moment Melbourne is not pulling its weight and that has implications in the whole industry across the country.

“South Australia is so desperately keen to get these cruise ships, the Tourism Minister in SA actually chairs a cruise attraction group, whose only (goal) is to get more ships into South Australia.”

Victorian Tourism Industry Council chief executive Felicia Mariani said the drop in cruise ships was “unacceptable”.

“We have taken our eye off the ball as a destination,” she said.

Ms Mariani said home port cruises were highly lucrative because of the vital flow-on effects they provide to local businesses who are often called upon to restock the ship ahead of their next destination.

Virgin Voyages has disappeared from Melbourne. Picture: David Geraghty

A recent Tourism and Transport Forum study found that Melbourne barely made the top 10 when it came to most appealing cruise destinations in Australia.

The city came in at eighth position, falling behind Tasmania, Sydney, Cairns, Airlie Beach, Kangaroo Island, Port Douglas and Perth.

A government spokeswoman said the cruise sector had bounced back, adding that the most recent full season had more ships visit Melbourne than before Covid.

“Tourists spent a record high of $39.7 billion in Victoria last year and Victoria is outpacing the rest of Australia as international travellers continue to flock to our state,” she said.

“The cruise sector is no exception.”

Originally published as Tourism bosses sound alarm on drop in cruise ships using Melbourne as home port