• 2 min de lectura
• 2 min de lectura
The annual general meeting of the New Zealand Cruise Association held before Thursday's annual conference in Auckland, re-elected Tansy Tompkins as chairman.
Tompkins, chief executive of Wellington Cable Car, was elected chairman at the annual general meeting in Christchurch in 2023 and was re-elected in 2024 and 2025.
Oscar Nathan, GM of Tourism Bay of Plenty, replaced Debbie Summers as deputy chair. Summers stood down from the NZCA board in February after 15 years.
In the chair's report to Thursday's conference in Shed 10 on Queens Wharf, Tompkins said "the hard truth" is that New Zealand remains in a fight to win back cruise deployment in an intensely competitive global market.
"Last year I said our industry was at a critical juncture and that remains true today," Tompkins said.
"New Zealand cruise visitation remains well below what it needs to be — the 2027-28 outlook remains difficult and 2028-29 may show only slight improvement.
"But we are unquestionably in a stronger position than we were a year ago.
The foundations for recovery are being rebuilt and our task now is to convert that progress into deployment decisions for 2028-29 and beyond."
Tompkins said the most significant shift over the past year has been the move from government awareness to genuine engagement.
"The Cross-Government Cruise Forum has been one of the most important developments," she said.
"Following the inaugural cross-government round table at the Beehive (Parliament) in July 2025, ministers issued a Joint Ministerial Statement affirming support for cruise tourism and committing to ongoing industry forums."
She said another key development is the inclusion of cruise in New Zealand's first national Tourism Policy Statement.
She said the attendance of Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston at Seatrade Cruise Global this year was "a significant perception win" for New Zealand.
"Cruise line leaders saw a minister who understood the sector, engaged directly with senior executives and reinforced that New Zealand wants cruise, values cruise and is serious about addressing the current barriers," she said.
