Efforts aim to lift cruise ship visits

Ritzy cruise ships will be adding glamour to Port Timaru after work by Aoraki Development Business and Tourism to get three visits next year.

The Seven Seas Voyager will set the trend next week, arriving in Timaru on February 2, with up to 700 passengers and 447 officers and crew.

Aoraki Development Business and Tourism (ADBT) manager Katerina Tiscenko said final preparations were under way for the Seven Seas Voyager's arrival. Work was also being done to finalise visits by the Seabourn Odyssey next year.

The Seabourn Odyssey, a small luxury liner, which has a passenger capacity of 450, will visit Timaru three times between January and February 2013.

ADBT has developed half and full-day tours for the Seven Seas Voyager passengers. Tour destinations and sites include Geraldine, Peel Forest, Mesopotamia Station, Temuka, the Botanic Gardens, Aigantighe Art Gallery, the Phar Lap statue and Caroline Bay. Scenic flights to Mt Cook and a trip to Oamaru are also on the schedule.

"We have been working actively alongside the PrimePort team and other groups for the last couple of years to position Timaru as a cruise-friendly destination, grow the local cruise market and increase the uptake of tours around the South Canterbury area."

The last cruise ship to call at Timaru was the German liner Europa in February last year.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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janet   #3   10:13 pm Jan 27 2012

so open up the local businesses and coffee shops. who wants to come to a place that either closes at 12pm or not open at all. big national stores are open but you can shop in any town for those. the local businesses let us down.

JME   #2   02:42 pm Jan 27 2012

About time someone chased up this market, it is a simple way to promote the region and there are a lot of good opportunities to be had by many different businesses. I just hope the local shops and anyone involved in offering tourism services don't stuff it up again. Cruise ships sail past Timaru all the time and take their tourist dollars with them. Our region has got lots of fantastic tour options to offer so make the most of it.

alien   #1   10:05 am Jan 27 2012

don't come to timaru, if you reach port on a sunday timaru business don't care, don't want you and wont open up shop for you. really if timaru wants ships they need to redevelop the ugly port.

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