Geelong cruise ship visits up as Melbourne peaks

CORIO BAY is set to host seven luxury cruise ship tours in 2015, up four on previously expected.
Geelong’s cruise visits had dropped to three from five in the 2013-14 season, two of which arrived because of overcrowding at Melbourne’s Station Pier.
The latest news follows a tourism report calling for a serious and expensive ramping up of Geelong’s efforts to attract cruise ships. The report also detailed how Melbourne’s cruise ship visits would grow from 55 last year to 73 this year.
The Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine (TGGB) report said a dedicated ship terminal and extensive marketing to boost Geelong’s profile were crucial to building the region as a cruise destination.
Tourism Victoria and Abercrombie & Kent, managers of Seabourn cruise ship ground tours, last week to revisit wineries and tourism sites with TGGB ahead of today’s announcement.
“The American company clearly found Geelong and the Bellarine a great cruise ship destination after having the Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Odyssey visit us this year,” the City’s tourism portfolio holder Cr Ron Nelson said.
“Abercrombie & Kent want to create a unique experience for their passengers and expect a high level of service so they decided to meet Geelong hospitality owners and operators in person.”
“This clearly shows a commitment to our city as a cruise ship destination and is another reason why the Yarra Street Pier is so crucial.”
“Each Seabourn ship carries more than 450 passengers with majority of travellers coming from America and the benefit of having these visitors here is huge.”
The City of Greater Geelong is waiting for $30 million in funding for the Geelong waterfront’s Yarra Street Pier.
The pier’s economic returns for the region have been cited as $61.4 million over its first 10 years.
“The economic benefits for our region are massive and the local jobs it will create are important too as approximately 522 full time jobs will be created,” Cr Nelson said.