Townsville’s tourism industry is gearing up for a major boost with just 120 days until the city welcomes its first Large Class cruise ship – the Queen Elizabeth.
The auspicious Queen Elizabeth will traverse Townsville’s newly widened shipping channel on 14 January 2025, bringing almost 3000 passengers and crew to the capital of North Queensland.
The visit will be first of many large cruise ships docking in Townsville, which has been facilitated by the Port of Townsville’s $251 million Channel Upgrade project, which Townsville Enterprise advocated for in recent years.
Townsville Enterprise CEO, Claudia Brumme-Smith said local tour operators were refining their products to cater for the influx of families and multi-generational tourists the Large Class cruise vessels would bring.
“Cruise is an important and growing sector for our local tourism industry, with passengers and crew each spending an average of $200 a day in the region, across tourism experiences, retail, dining, transport services and more,” Ms Brumme-Smith said.
“Our vision for this city has always been to grow our shipping capabilities – including our white ship sector – and with the channel widening now complete this is very much a reality, the next cruise season will see a doubling of visitation from this market alone.”
“Townsville Enterprise, along with key stakeholders, strongly advocated for both the Port of Townsville expansion project and the cruise terminal a number of years ago, and to see the Queen Elizabeth dock into Townsville will be a proud moment for this city.”
The $251 million Channel Upgrade project is a joint project of the State and Federal Governments, and Port of Townsville and forms part of the Townsville City Deal signed in December 2016.
Port of Townsville CEO Ranee Crosby said the channel widening had been pivotal in attracting larger cruise vessels to Townsville, as upon completion vessels up to 300m in length will be able to safely access the Port.
“This project will deliver the largest cruise ships Townsville has seen to date and will be carrying thousands of passengers and crew, which means significant economic injections into our local economy and local businesses” Ms Crosby said.
“This milestone heralds a new era of maritime tourism for the region, promising to boost the local economy and offer visitors an unparalleled experience to explore our region right throughout the year.”
To date, six large ships from three major cruise companies are scheduled to visit Townsville in 2025, to view the full schedule head to Townsville-port.com.au website.
