Call to lift foreign cruise ship ban as foot traffic in central Auckland plummets

Sunday, 12 July 2020

Some cruise lines are hoping to once again set sail later this summer, following months of business shutdowns because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Businesses in central Auckland are in favour of lifting a ban on foreign cruise ships sailing between New Zealand ports to boost domestic tourism.

Currently, domestic cruise travel is permitted as long as the ships are local, but the industry cannot operate under these conditions as it requires foreign ships.

Data shows foot traffic to central Auckland is down 27 per cent, and businesses believe restarting the cruise industry could help the economy.

Viv Beck, chief executive of Heart of the City, Auckland's city centre business association, said there was a real opportunity in restarting domestic cruises.

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The government isn’t budgeting on a ban on foreign ships conducting domestic cruises despite calls from businesses.

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Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck says if managed safety restarting the cruise industry could be economically prosperous.

“We’re definitely keen to see domestic tourism to Auckland city centre, and arriving right on our beautiful waterfront. It would be great for Kiwis looking for new ways to get across the country and for our local businesses,” she said.

”America’s Cup is coming in the summer - this could be a wonderful draw card to get people to central Auckland.”

Beck said crews would be tested, quarantined and have to stay with the ship for extended periods to endure safety.

'They do need to come from offshore, and we understand the sanitation and health protocols would be very strict,” she said.

“On that basis, it would be similar to people mingling with others who have come back from overseas, been tested and quarantined and then go back into the community.”

A report released in May predicted Covid-19 could inflict 12,400 job losses and a loss of $3.1 billion of gross domestic product (GDP) on businesses in Auckland’s CBD.

The area benefits heavily from tourism, with international spending making up 19 per cent of all spending in 2019.

NZ Cruise Association Kevin O’Sullivan said there was a market for Kiwis who want to cruise around New Zealand.

“Cruise passengers bring a lot of income and a lot of life into the central city of Auckland, and it's a different way of bringing New Zealanders into our regions and generating income in those areas,” he said.

“We believe that if New Zealanders can travel by road, bus, train and fly, it’s hard to make a distinction between those modes of transport and going around by ship.”

O’Sullivan said Kiwis make up around 10 to 15 per cent of all cruise passengers travelling around New Zealand over the season.

A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said New Zealand flagged vessels are allowed to enter New Zealand provided they comply with the quarantine and isolation process at the maritime border, so domestic cruises meeting those requirements would be able to operate.

“Domestic travel is not banned, so if a cruise ship starts in New Zealand and only travels within New Zealand, it would be allowed to operate,” she said.

“The Maritime Border Order states that no foreign flagged vessels can enter New Zealand, with some exceptions like cargo ships delivering or picking up goods, fishing vessels unloading catch or changing crews, ships in distress and others specified in the Order.”

But O’Sullivan said foreign vessels make up the majority of cruise ships in New Zealand, and the cruise industry cannot operate without them.

“The ban on foreign-owned vessels shuts out effectively close to 100 percent of the cruise ships that are likely to come to NZ,” he said. “There’s very little in terms of New Zealand flagged shipping.”

The government extended the cruise ship ban, which began on March 16 to stop the spread of Covid-19, on June 30 for a further 60 or 90 days.

A spokesperson for Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis said decisions about cruise vessels operating in domestic waters would require advice from other agencies and would also need to mitigate any health concerns,” he said.