Cruise ships lie tied up at Auckland's Viaduct Harbour during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Photo: GREG WOOD / AFP
Red tape, high costs and tough rules have cruise companies turning their backs on New Zealand, and our cruise industry on the brink of sinking.
In what has been called a devastating blow to our tourism industry, the number of cruise ships docking in our ports is declining rapidly, and industry insiders worry about the economic impact on the entire country.
An industry leader and a travel journalist tell The Detail that the country risks being left behind as the rest of the world embraces a thriving cruise sector, post-Covid.
Globally, they say, cruising is on the rise, ports are bustling, and passengers are happily splashing their cash.
But here? A growing number of ships are sailing right past us.
"Pre-Covid, we were the fastest growing cruise industry in the world; now we are struggling to keep up, and we need to do whatever we can, at this point in time, to make sure we don't get left behind," said travel journalist Dan Lake.
"It's not sinking, but it may be Jack and Rose [from the movie The Titanic] on the door, wading in the water. I think that's maybe where we are at, at the moment. And we just need a rescue to come along and fix everything up."
New Zealand Cruise Association chief executive Jacqui Lloyd agreed, calling the situation "pretty dire".
"We are at a critical juncture as an industry here," she said.
"There is global growth across the world, and we are the only country seeing the reduction, and that is concerning."
In today's episode of The Detail, Lake and Lloyd discuss the causes of the decline, the economic fallout, what's needed to lure ships back to our shores - and if that's the best thing for clean, green New Zealand.
Cruise passengers tend to spend less than other holiday tourists - an average $282 per day, as compared to $324. But the overall economic impact of cruises is significant.
A report last year found cruise ship tourism brought in $1.37 billion to the economy in the 2023/24 financial year, including $637m in direct spend, and another $730m in indirect spend, such as job creation.
Now cruise ship bookings in New Zealand are expected to drop by about 40 percent in the 2025/26 season, affecting 20 of 21 ports.
Lloyd said the steep decline can be blamed on rising costs, regulatory uncertainty, and operational complexity.
"For a very long time ... a number of cruise lines have said New Zealand is 'No Zealand'," Lloyd said. "We have always been hard; there's always extra regulation, it's always 'no you can't do this, and you can't do that, no that's going to cost you more'.
"And some of those reasons are valid, absolutely, but compounding it, we have always been difficult."
Part of the problem, said Lake, is that the country's proud "clean and green" brand is colliding head-on with the reality of cruise tourism, where ships - particularly those bigger and older - are known for their carbon footprint and waste.
He points out that brand new ships are "basically self-sustaining - it's all biofuel" and that waste doesn't leave the ship.
But it isn't these new, sustainable ships coming to New Zealand.
"The older ones aren't so good," said Lake. "They are pumping out diesel 24-7 just so they can keep running."
Some of those older ships are being denied entry to New Zealand because they do not meet the strict biosecurity regulations, including those for biofouling, which is when micro-organisms, plants, algae, or small animals accumulate on surfaces where they are not wanted, such as the ship hull.
But Lake and Lloyd both say those rules are fine.
"Clean and green is why people want to come here," said Lake.
Lloyd added that "cruise lines do not want us to lower our standards, at all".
She said the government wants the cruise industry to return to its former glory and has created a collaborative working group for the industry, including customs, MPI, the ports, cruise agencies, and the cruise lines. They meet every six months.
Ports are already reconsidering pricing, and it has just been announced that there will be an expansion at the Port of Auckland under the government's fast-track regime, which includes more room for cruise ships.
"The message coming through very loudly from the tourism minister is that New Zealand wants cruise, we need cruise, and we are welcoming to the cruise lines and cruise passengers because they certainly support a lot of businesses through summer that allow them to stay operational over winter," said Lloyd.
The direct vessel and passenger spend is expected to drop by 40 percent this season and, according to Lloyd, "that's going to hit hard ... and that's going to be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of tourism operators and hospitality providers".
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