Cruise ship season 2025 wraps up with 20,000 tourists visiting the Port of Albany in seven months
The departure of the Insignia last Wednesday represented the last of the region's boat-bound tourists, with almost 20,000 visitors landing in the Great Southern from 18 vessels in the seven months since the season's October beginning.
The captain of each cruise vessel making its maiden voyage to the Port of Albany was presented with a plaque made by the Albany Men's Shed made with timber from the port's former deep-water jetty.
Southern Ports chief executive Keith Wilks said the majority of the ships were visiting for the first time.
'Sixty per cent of our cruise ship visits this season were the first time those vessels had come into our ports, which shows just how popular our regions are becoming,' he said.
'Every cruise visit is another chance to showcase our spectacular regions to new groups of visitors and we're proud of the role we play in that.
'Cruise visits result in money being spent in local economies and many passengers come back for longer visits after getting a first taste of the region.
'There is so much for tourists to discover and see throughout the Great Southern, Goldfields-Esperance and South West regions that it is impossible to do it all during just one visit.'
Significant numbers of tourists explored the Great Southern on their cruise ship maiden voyage to the region, with the Crown Princess delivering 3000 in November, the MSC Magnifica offering more than 2000 in March and 1800 embarking from the Westerdam in December.
'Having so many new vessels include Albany on their itineraries is a reflection on the fact it is one of WA's premier cruise destinations and the industry is continuing to bounce back strongly,' Mr Wilks said.
'Because cruise visits often lead to visitors returning at a later date it's difficult to measure their full impact on our regional economies, but it's certainly overwhelmingly positive.'
The 2023-24 cruise season made a $385m economic impact throughout WA, according to data from the Australian Cruise Association.
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