CRUISE Lines International Association (CLIA) Managing Director Joel Katz asserted the industry’s aim to secure the right regulatory settings which will allow cruising to “thrive into the future in a well-managed way”.
Opening today’s Cruise360 conference (see page two) in Sydney today, Katz said CLIA is working together with its strong community of stakeholders and supporters as it aims to battle some of the key issues cruise is facing in the region.
“While the market is strong, recent deployment announcements by cruise lines reflect the high cost of operating in this region, and the impact of regulatory complexities,” Katz said.
“Capacity in Australia is likely to remain static in the short term, and in New Zealand it is notably down [and] this is where CLIA is particularly active – alongside our cruise lines, we are working with governments at national and regional levels, on both sides of the Tasman,” Katz added.
CLIA’s local boss highlighted the investment in new ships around the world – a demonstration of the sentiment in the industry.
“The current world orderbook shows 71 new cruise ships scheduled for delivery through to 2036 with a combined value of more than US$60 billion.
“It’s interesting to note that despite the attention on the largest ships, the reality is we have a good balance among ship sizes in the fleet today, and into the future, with a third being small ships, a third medium, and a third larger ships.” MS
More from Cruise360 on page three and in Cruise Weekly’s special issue on Mon.