Businesses which benefit from the money these visitors spend here will be looking forward to the first ship’s arrival next month.
Last season it was estimated the visitors pumped $60million into the local economy and it is expected this will be higher for 2023-24.
The cruise ship season is expected to reach pre-Covid levels this year, with more than 200,000 passengers expected on 129 visits, starting on November 6 and finishing in early April.
It is expected there will be 19 days where passenger numbers visiting the city will exceed 4000.
Some will welcome the extra hustle and bustle the visitors bring to the city, particularly once the tertiary students depart for their summer break.
But as last season taught us, a large influx of cruise ship visitors can cause headaches for locals when the visitors eschew the more expensive buses laid on for them in favour of using our public transport.
Regular Port Chalmers bus users were understandably disgruntled about the pressure on the service which meant some of them missed medical appointments, job interviews or were late getting to or from school and work.
To accommodate the anticipated extra demand this year, the Otago Regional Council is adding almost 300 additional bus trips to and from Port Chalmers.
Even then the ORC is warning that on especially busy days there may still be some overcrowded buses.
We wonder how happy ratepayers are at this development, the cost of which has not been spelled out. Is adding these buses affecting how quickly improvements might be made to services for residents elsewhere in the city? Has enough been done by the cruise ship operators to encourage their clients to use the buses they organise?
If cost is the issue sending passengers towards ORC buses, perhaps the cruise ships need to make their own buses cheaper.
Hopefully, the reinstatement of some early morning trains to the city will ease some of the pressure on buses. As well as localised concerns about the effect on public transport, here and internationally there is an increasing focus on the significant environmental impact of cruise ships and their contribution to over-tourism.
Despite cruise lines committing to Zero Carbon by 2050, according to Enterprise Dunedin’s cruise update report this month, although 40% of all cruise ships are equipped to operate with onshore power, no New Zealand ports can facilitate this. Sydney plans to have onshore facilities in place by late this year, making it the only port in Australasia with this option.
Sally Rae with her dogs. PHOTO: ODT FILES
And another thing
Our unstoppable business and rural editor Sally Rae may not have known what she was letting herself in for when she made the call in January for a celebration of New Zealand’s food-producing champions.
After reading the New Year’s Honours list she wrote an opinion piece concerned at the lack of recognition for those in the primary sector.
She reckoned this year should be designated the Year of the Farmer, and such was the response to her article, the Otago Daily Times and Rural Life came up with an initiative to honour an outstanding South Island farmer or grower. We wanted to showcase those farmers who were creating an environmentally, economically, and sustainable future as well as contributing to their rural community.
Congratulations to inaugural award winner Myfanwy Alexander, Duntroon contract milker extraordinaire, who is also the North Otago Federated Farmers president, the regional lead for the Dairy Women’s Network, a member of the South Island Dairy Event governance group and the instigator of a local group for women dairy farmers.
She is excited about the future of the farming sector, with the down-to-earth mantra to ‘‘make the bloody most of it instead of moaning’’.
We echo those sentiments and look forward to introducing more of our fantastic farmers to you when we run the award again next year.
