The number of Australian cruisers continues to climb, making us the world’s fourth largest

Millions of Australians have taken to cruising, with new figures revealing this market as the world number four for holidays at sea. Experts warn Australia could soon start losing global market share due to high port charges.

Seven Seas Explorer cruise in Sydney Harbour.

Millions of Australians have taken to cruising, with new figures revealing increases in the numbers of locals taking holidays at sea.

But experts warn Australia’s global market share could be at risk due to high port charges.

The number of Australians who took an ocean cruise grew nearly six per cent last year compared with the previous 12 months, with Aussies ranked the fourth-biggest cruisers in the world, following the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Cruise Lines International Association managing director Joel Katz predicts the next local cruise season, starting in October, will be similar to last year’s season.

“We are certainly not going to see the growth we have seen in previous years,” said Mr Katz, noting that the P&O Australia brand has been axed with one of its ships retired, Cunard has changed ship deployment, while Virgin Voyages did not return to Australia after its last cruise season.

“We expect this season will be flat, and not reflective of the growth in other parts of the world because it is a challenging operating environment and because of the high costs of operating in this region,” Mr Katz said.

And next season’s New Zealand cruise season could sustain a 20 per cent drop in capacity due to increased costs and additional regulations.

“Obviously we don’t want to see that in Australia,” said Mr Katz, saying that globally the cruise industry is going through a strong growth phase.

“We want to ensure that Australian ports and destinations can benefit from that growth and we maintain our share of the global industry.

Seven Seas Navigator cruise grand suite, the cruise ship will be sailing from Bali to Sydney on January 5

Australia has always been a higher cost region relative to the rest of the world, but cost inflation has weeded its way into the supply chain, ports and destinations.

“Very often it’s difficult for the cruise ship companies to absorb cost increases at the last minute as their itineraries are planned 2-3 years out,” said Mr Katz.

“Demand is strong, but we need governments, destinations and industry stakeholders to work together to address the high costs and regulatory difficulties we experience in

the region.

“Cruising supports many thousands of local jobs, but we are going to suffer a decline in cruise ship deployment in this region while other global destinations reap the economic rewards.”

Nevertheless, the NCL-owned luxury Regent cruise line will have six cruise itineraries visiting our waters this summer, including the Seven Seas Explorer which is cruising from Bali to Sydney from December 12. A Sydney to Auckland 15 night cruise departs on December 28, while Regent’s Seven Seas Navigator will depart Singapore on January 5 for Sydney.

Meanwhile, the Cruise Lines International Association report reveals a 14 per cent increase in the number of overseas visitors cruising in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific between 2023 and 2024.

Local itineraries continued to be the top choice for Australian cruisers during 2024, with almost 1.08 million sailing within Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific (up from 1.06 million in 2023).

Almost one in every 20 Australians took an ocean cruise in 2024, one of the highest rates in the world. In a reflection of the trend towards more fly-cruise holidays, the number of Australians who travelled to long haul destinations to cruise also increased from 15.2 per cent in 2023 to 18.5 per cent in 2024.

The most popular cruise region for Australians in 2024 was Australia-New Zealand-South Pacific attracting 81.5 per cent of cruisers, followed by the Mediterranean at 6.2 per cent.

Cruising had a record economic impact providing $8.43bn for the national economy during 2023-24, and supporting more than 26,000 jobs.