The founder and original owner
of Captain Cook Cruises, Trevor
Haworth AM died Sat, aged 82.
A legend of the tourism
industry, Captain Haworth and
wife Geraldine started Captain
Cook Cruises in 1970, operating
coffee cruises from Circular Quay,
and went on to build a fleet
operating in Sydney Harbour,
Fiji, Murray River and the Great
Barrier Reef.
For more than four decades,
Haworth developed private sector
and govt partnerships to maintain
a strong tourism industry.
In 1985 his achievements were
recognised nationally when he
became the first tourism industry
personality to be awarded a
member of the Order of Australia
in the Queen’s birthday honours.
Haworth, who was a Master
Mariner, started his career in
the UK in 1946 at HMS Conway,
a boarding ship-school for
preparing cadets for command in
the Royal and Merchant Navies.
He worked as a cadet with the
South American Saint Line for six
years, before moving to Sydney
where he joined the Swire and
Yuill group, part of the Australian
Oriental Line, and rose to Master
of the SS Taiping by the age of 29.
Haworth also started a ship
delivery business, Ocean and
Coastal Deliveries, before he
was asked by a friend to start a
sightseeing cruise business on
Sydney Harbour.
With Geraldine, he built the
business from one boat with two
cruises a week to 30 departures a
day, amassing a fleet of 12 vessels.
At its peak, CCC had 25 ships in
four destinations and carried over
one million passengers per year.
In his devotion to the promotion
of Australia to int’l tourists, he
was also involved in numerous
committees and boards.
Jeff Ellison, md, SeaLink
Travel Group, which purchased
CCC’s Sydney and Murray
River operations in 2011, said:
‘Trevor will be long remembered
for his pioneering spirit, his
considered and entrepreneurial
approach but moreover as
a statesman and icon in the
founding and development of
bringing international tourism to
Australia.”
Haworth is survived by his wife,
children Jackie, Anthony and
Allison, and seven grandchildren.
A funeral service will take place
at St Mary’s Church – corner of
Miller & Ridge Street, North
Sydney – at 10am on 06 Mar.
