New Zealand Cruise Association

holds an annual New Zealand Cruise Conference at rotating locations each year that features keynote speakers from a number of strategic partners and industry stakeholders. Mr. O’Sullivan shares, “Our 2021 NZ Cruise Conference was unfortunately postponed this year until 2022 due to pandemic restrictions. We hope to hold our 2022 conference mid-year next year, and we have already started to attract fantastic speakers for that. I’m very positive about the level of engagement we will receive from our local and surrounding cruise industries. It will be fantastic to finally have the ability to showcase the potential for our cruise sector to resurge and talk to our members and partners about how we can all continue to move forward in a better light.” NZCA is confident that the future for New Zealand’s cruise sector is bright. The association continues to advocate for the sector at a government level, currently lobbying for more concrete information as to when international border will reopen for cruise tourism. Mr O’Sullivan elaborates, “While we don’t expect our international tourism industry to operate in the same way it used to, we really are excited to get things moving again. It’s been a trying two years for our members, but as an industry we have used the time to have a major rethink about how we will do things from now on. We aim to work closely in the coming month with our community and the communities we interact with across the South Pacific, in order to to redevelop the economic, social, and environmental benefits we have lost for some time, including rebuilding tourism infrastructure such as bus and coach routes.” NZCA will be actively involved with government in the planning process for tourism and cruise recovery. Mr O’Sullivan concludes with an explanation that recovery will be gradual. “During this time of healing, it is important that all members of the tourism, travel, and cruise communities work together. We encourage members of these communities to share their stories about why cruise is important to them and their region through media, social media, word of mouth, and any other platforms they may have access to. By being open and transparent about our struggles as well as our potential for regrowth across the region, we will rebuild the industry to be even stronger than before.” The NZCA will move forward in a proactive manner and continue supporting their members through advocacy, education, promotion, and service as the cruise sector reopens. NEW ZEALAND CRUI SE ASSOC I AT ION (NZCA)