| Funding for Cook Is cruise facility

COOK Island tourism authorities have
revealed to CW correspondent Roderick Eime
that tenders are now out for the construction
of a new cruise ship facility to be located on
the far western shore of the main island,
Rarotonga.
The tourism authorities believe the new jetty
at Arorangi will more than double the
potential annual ship visits from their current
12 (max) to over 25.
According to the CI Port Authority, one in
three visits is lost due to adverse conditions.
Based on estimates of US$100 per passenger
spend, CI tourism should recover $3m per year,
offsetting the projected $2m cost to be funded
by the NZ government.
“Conditions at the main port of Avatiu
Harbour make it difficult to land passengers
when wind speeds exceed 15 knots,” says
president of the Cook Islands Travel Industry
Council, Stephen Lyon, “the new facility will
permit greater predictability of success as this
location is in the lee of the prevailing winds
from the east.”
Improvements to the existing harbour in the
capital, due for completion in 2012, should
also allow cruise ships up to 200m (eg Hapag-
Lloyd, Ponant) to berth against the wharf, but
vessels such as those of P&O and Princess will
continue to ferry passengers ashore via tender.