CLIA Urges Action as Australia, New Zealand Lose Cruise Ships
Cruise contributed seven point three billion dollars to Australia in 2024-25 and supported more than twenty-two thousand jobs, though output fell thirteen point two percent.
Cruise Lines International Association Australasia opened Cruise360 2026 in Sydney on Sept. 17 with a record audience of nearly 1,000 delegates and a call for national action to reverse the region’s loss of cruise ship deployments. The event is the first two-day Cruise360 held in Sydney.
Attendance surpassed the 800-person record set at last year’s two-day conference in Brisbane. Global cruise passenger volume is rising from a record 37.2 million in 2025 to a forecast 38 million this year. CLIA expects 42 million passengers by the end of the decade.
Katz calls for national policy settings
CLIA Australasia Executive Director Joel Katz used his opening address at the International Convention Centre Sydney to warn that Australia and New Zealand have lost ships to other destinations despite continued passenger demand.
“Our industry’s warnings about a complex and uncertain regulatory environment and rising costs have been proven right,” Katz said. “Our region has been losing competitiveness and we need to turn that around.”
Katz said New Zealand’s government was responding to the industry’s concerns and Australian states and territories were providing support, but federal coordination was still needed. He called for stable and competitive policies that would allow Australia to attract ships and retain cruise-related spending.
Cruise contributed $7.3 billion to the Australian economy in 2024-25 and supported more than 22,000 jobs. Economic output was down $1.1 billion, or 13.2%, from the previous year, even as a record 1.45 million Australians took cruises.
CLIA last month launched the Australian Paddock to Port Alliance to campaign on the effects that reduced cruise activity could have beyond ports. Its participants include farmers, food suppliers, tourism operators, travel agencies, destinations and other businesses serving the cruise economy.
Global cruise executives join record audience
The conference brought together travel advisers, cruise executives, ports and destinations. CLIA Australasia’s membership includes actively selling travel agencies as well as individual home-based and mobile consultants in Australia and New Zealand.
International speakers and attendees included Swan Hellenic Chief Commercial Officer Mario Bounas; Windstar Cruises Managing Director, Global Commercial Helen Beck; Quark Expeditions President Sam Seward; Azamara Cruises Chief International Sales Officer David Siewers; and Norwegian Cruise Line International Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Jason Krimmel.
Local panelists included Amber Wilson, HX Expeditions’ director of sales for Australia and New Zealand; Mark Richards, Carnival Cruise Line’s national sales manager; Steve Labroski, chief executive of itravel Australia; Dave Humphreys, Royal Caribbean’s director of sales for Australia and New Zealand; and Susan Haberle, Crystal’s vice president of sales and partnerships for Australia and New Zealand.
Katz put the global cruise ship orderbook at 89 vessels scheduled to enter service through 2039, with a combined value approaching US$100 billion. He said CLIA was also working on decarbonization, industry partnerships and responses to regulatory challenges in multiple markets.
Cruise360’s second day is scheduled for Sept. 18. “Whatever our frustrations, we have huge opportunities ahead of us as a cruise community,” Katz told delegates.
