This was announced at the gala dinner of ACA 2016 which was attended by Abercrombie & Kent svp worldwide cruise business and operations, David Vass and regional md Sujata Raman, who were a sponsor of the spectacular event at the Opera Point Marquee on Sydney Harbour -- complete with a fireworks display.
It was also announced that next year’s conference will be held in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, about 97km north of Brisbane, September 6-9.
Chairman Stephen Bradford told the 131 delegates that the Australian cruise industry’s economic value continues to grow.
Bradford released details of ACA’s 2015-16 Economic Impact Report undertaken once again by independent research company, the AEC Group.
The report noted that passenger expenditure increased to A$1.069 billion from A$903m in 2014-15. Crew expenditure also grew to A$103m.
Bradford said direct expenditure in 2015-16 totalled A$1.734 billion, which includes all international passenger and crew expenditure, plus cruise ship costs at each port.
There were 2,762,000 passenger days in port, up from 2,400,000 the previous year.
A total of 46 cruise ships visited Australia and more are expected in 2016-17 with the arrival of 10 new ships including Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas.
‘We are excited by these figures which show that the cruise sector is continuing to be a vital growth industry for this country, with strong economic benefits for all involved,’ ACA ceo Jill Abel said.
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