Ross Dowling: Booming cruise ship industry a boost for WA economy

With Fremantle hosting the Australian Cruise Conference, there will be a focus on cruising and its contribution to WA.

A recent State of the Cruise Industry Report 2025 by the Cruise Lines International Association, showed that 34.6 million people took a cruise last year.

This is predicted to increase to 42 million by 2028. With 310 cruise ships in the world and a further 77 new cruise ships on order, demand is still outstripping supply, especially for luxury ships and expedition ships.

The luxury cruise market has tripled since 2010 expanding from 28 ships to over 100 today.

Whilst it is long held that cruising is the preserve of older people, the average age of cruise travellers is 46.5 years, with approximately 67 per cent being of Gen-X (born between 1965 – 1980) or younger.

Current trends in cruising include it being the top choice for multi-generational travellers with 28 per cent of cruisers travelling with three to five generations.

Baby boomers are continuing to cruise with an increasing number of them choosing to sail more than once per year.

Whilst 31 per cent of cruisers over the past two years were new to cruise, of those who have cruised before 82 per cent say they will cruise again. So repeat cruising is very high.

Cruise ships are becoming more sustainable by reducing emissions at sea, including environmental technologies on board, and partnering with cities and ports on responsible tourism.

Fuel and energy sources for new build ships include green methanol, LNG, hydrogen fuel cells, battery storage, solar (used on five ships today), and wind (five ships).

Last year 1.32 million Australians took an ocean cruise, a 6 per cent increase on the previous year.

The industry generated $8.4b in economic value and supported 26,000 jobs.

The average age of Australian cruisers was 48.4 years and almost one in 20 Australians took a cruise making it one of the highest rates of cruisers globally.

The industry is experiencing strong demand, with high satisfaction ratings and a high percentage of repeat cruisers.

Cruising is booming in Western Australia and it makes a significant contribution to our regional economy.

Last year more than 150 cruise ship visits, carrying more than 190,000 guests and crew, injected $385m into the economy.

This generated more than 1200 jobs. Between now and the end of the year there will be eight cruise ship visits to the Port of Fremantle with a further 43 in the next two years.

Already there are 14 more scheduled to visit in 2028.

Other WA ports set to benefit from this cruise boom include Wyndham, Broome, Geraldton, Busselton, Albany and Esperance.

The Kimberley is attracting much interest from national and international cruise lines as evidenced by the Port of Broome hosting 68 cruise calls in 2024-25.

The WA Government’s Western Australian Cruise Tourism Strategic Plan 2023-2033 prioritises developing marine infrastructure across the State, with $35.5m committed to improve infrastructure for cruise ships at Fremantle Passenger Terminal.

The Kimberley Ports Authority is progressing plans to establish Broome as a first point of entry to Australia, which will deliver major benefits for tourism.

The new Kimberley Marine Support Base arrived in Broome in May and is on track to be operational this month, allowing for larger cruise ships to berth there.

The port of Geraldton also has a $350m WA government-funded infrastructure project that will modernise and enhance the port.

With Tourism WA working to grow its current $18b visitor economy to $25b by 2033, the cruise industry will be playing its part in achieving this goal.

With our world class natural attractions, 21,000km of coast, a variety of ports and cruise destinations, as well as improving port infrastructure, the State is well on its way to being an Australian standout cruise destination, spreading its economic impact throughout the regions from the Kimberley to Esperance.

The cruise conference will chart our future and will also benefit from the presence of itinerary planners from four major cruise lines who will be here on a fact finding mission to see what we have to offer.

I am sure that they will be suitably impressed.

Professor Ross Dowling AM is Chair of the Cruise WA Working Group