New Zealand racks up bumper 2016/17 wave season

Sirena is the last of 41 ships from 22 cruise lines to visit New Zealand in the 2016/17 season.

‘During this cruise season those 41 ships have made 760 calls at 31 locations, with an expected benefit to the New Zealand economy of NZ$490m spread across our regions,’ Cruise New Zealand’s executive officer Kevin O’Sullivan said.

O’Sullivan said the number of cruise ship passengers visiting New Zealand will continue to grow.

The 2017/18 season, which gets under way with the arrival of P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Jewel in Auckland on September 1, is expected to bring yet more economic benefits.

O'Sullivan said upward of 280,000 cruise ship passengers will visit New Zealand in the 2017/18 season, injecting more than NZ$500m into the economy.

‘Cruise ships in our ports contribute to the vibrancy of New Zealand’s cities and have become very much part of the scenery,’ O’Sullivan said.