Tourism chiefs urge swill ships rethink

TASMANIA’S cruise ship market has reached a flashpoint and six-day booze cruises are no longer what the state wants, say tourism industry insiders..

A cruise ship in Wineglass Bay. Picture: STEPHEN LAIRD

TASMANIA’S cruise ship market has reached a flashpoint and six-day booze cruises are no longer what the state wants, say tourism industry insiders.

Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania boss Luke Martin has called for a roundtable discussion on a future strategy for ships visiting the state as the number climbed by 60 per cent to 94 vessels in season 2016-17.

“Large boats out of Sydney full of Australians paying $700 for a six-day booze cruise is not what the tourism industry wants,’’ Mr Martin said.

“The community, industry and state need to come to a ­decision about what sort and size of cruise ship industry we want to grow in the next five to 10 years as the numbers explode.”

Tourism elder Simon Currant said the mega ships docking in Tasmanian ports were “brand wreckers”.

Mr Currant said the influx of 5000 passengers into Hobart had negative impacts on the infrastructure and was not good for the economy. “They don’t spend a lot of money ­because it’s such an affordable way to travel,” he said.

Mr Martin said the industry did not want to slow visitation but he questioned the value of large cruise ships going into a World Heritage Area such as Port Arthur or Freycinet ­National Park.

“If visitors want to go to the East Coast, let’s get them to come into a town where everyone benefits ­rather than just going to a site,” he said.

He has called for the strategic development of Swansea or Triabunna as a port.

The sight of a cruise ship “undermines what people ­expect when they go to places like Port Arthur”, he said.

“I don’t think people expect when they go to Port Arthur historic site or walk to the top of the Wineglass Bay walk and look down to see a giant cruise ship in the middle of the bay.”

Glamorgan Spring Bay Mayor Michael Kent disagreed. Cr Kent said “the future is not what it used to be”.

But he agreed with Mr Martin a cruise ship could moor off Triabunna wharf and use tenders to ferry groups of passengers ashore.

Port Arthur tourism manager Anne McVilly said the first tourists who visited the site came by cruise ship. Three months after the penal colony closed in 1877, visitors came by ships because there were no roads.

“It’s really part of our history to have people arrive by boat,’’ Ms McVilly said.

“We have never had a complaint from a non-cruise ship visitor about seeing a cruise ship in the harbour.”

She agreed a whole-of-­industry approach was needed to look at how visitors were moving around the state and whether they came by air or sea.

“It’s a good time for the ­industry to come together to look at all capacity, sea and air — 1.5 million visitors is a lot for our roads and infrastructure to cope with,” Ms McVilly said.

“We don’t want any visitor experience compromised.”

Destination Southern Tasmania Melinda Anderson said the cruise sector was “segmented with different styles of ships suited to different ­destinations”.

However, Ms Anderson said her members wanted ­increased yield from the cruise market rather than numbers.