Five cruise ship visits for Taranaki in 2024-25 summer

Taranaki will welcome four cruise ships across five visits during the 2024-25 season, with one vessel, the Silver Nova, stopping here twice.

Across the five visits, which is two fewer than last summer, approximately 2,994 passengers will get a taste of the region. Reduced schedules are not exclusive to Taranaki but rather happening New Zealand-wide and further abroad, reflecting increased cost pressures and geopolitical issues impacting the international cruise industry at a macro level.

“In total, 909 cruise ships are scheduled to visit the country this coming season, which is 141 fewer than last season. The industry is being impacted by a range of issues including rising costs such as fuel, security instability in key shipping route the Red Sea, and biosecurity regulatory compliance,” Port Taranaki Cruise Coordinator, Amy Wilson, said.

“These are factors that are out of our control in Taranaki, but we’ll continue to work behind the scenes to attract more vessels here in the future, and we remain determined to give our visitors this season a fantastic and truly unique Taranaki experience.”

Te Puna Umaga Venture Taranaki General Manager Destination, Brylee Flutey, agreed, sharing that Taranaki was still an attractive destination to cruise lines, and the regional focus remained on the five-year Taranaki Cruise Strategy of sustainably increasing cruise ship visits to 28 by 2028.

“It's more important now than ever to continue on the course we’ve set for ourselves as we work towards 28 by 2028. As with any strategy, it is a living document, and it will naturally evolve. However, we have put in the hard yards, and for now, we will steady the course, and continue to deliver the exceptional experience we provided passengers last year, while working behind the scenes to get on future cruise schedules as the sector naturally starts to stabilise.”

Recent tourism data has revealed that Taranaki ranked the third-highest region in New Zealand for visitor spend growth, up 5.9% for the year to May 2024, and international visitor spending up 68%. This was the highest growth across all 16 regions in New Zealand.

“Part of this success could be attributed to last season’s cruise visits, highlighting the importance of cruise and the potential positive impact the sector can have on our wider economy,” Ms Flutey said.

“Tourism helps to support the vibrancy of our region and our economy, and we remain committed to and focused on positioning and promoting Taranaki as an appealing destination for tourists as they seek out new and unique destinations, as well as working with our local tourism businesses to support the development of their existing tourism products, and the creation of new products to meet this market.”

Taranaki’s 2024-25 cruise season will stretch from late November through to mid-February, with all the vessels being smaller premium, luxury, and expedition-type cruise ships.

The first, on 29 November, is ‘discovery’ vessel Scenic Eclipse II, which is 168m long and caters for 228 passengers. The tag ‘discovery’ refers to the vessel exploring adventurous destinations.

The largest vessel for 2024-25, the 244m Silver Nova, will make the first of two visits for the season on 15 December, with approximately 728 passengers aboard. The ship was built in 2023 and is designed to provide environmentally friendly cruising through a hybrid power system.

“Silver Nova’s hybrid power system is an exciting glimpse into the future of cruise and aligns with the cruise strategy, which aims to sustainably grow cruise tourism in Taranaki, both in terms of the number of vessels and also the vessel type,” Ms Flutey said.

Silver Nova will make her second stop at Port Taranaki on 28 January 2025.

Three days earlier, on 25 January 2025, Azamara Pursuit, a 181m vessel with up to 686 passengers aboard, arrives in Taranaki. The passengers will likely be keen to get off the ship and explore Taranaki after a day sailing from Norfolk Island.

The final visitor of the season is Amadea, on 19 February. The ship is 192m long and has capacity for 624 passengers. Amadea is well known in Germany as the setting for a popular Love Boat-esque television programme.

“We’ve got a great mix of vessels bringing visitors from all over the world, so we’re really looking forward to showing what great food, arts, culture, gardens, galleries, retail and tourism experiences Taranaki has to offer,” Mrs Wilson said.

“Hopefully, they’ll go home and tell friends and family to visit, or even want to come back themselves in the future and spend more time discovering the region.”

Ms Flutey said Venture Taranaki would work closely with Taranaki businesses, the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce, the New Plymouth iSite, New Plymouth District Council, retailers, and tourism operators (businesses) to ensure the region was ‘cruise-ready’ ahead of the season.

“This is the second season of the Taranaki Cruise Strategy, so we’ll be applying some learning from last season, building off what worked, and continuing to work collaboratively across the many stakeholders it takes to provide an exceptional visitor cruise experience.”