The Territory's cruise industry is boasting more cruise passengers set to embark/disembark in Darwin (NT Australia), boosting hospitality, accommodation, and tourism bookings.
Silversea is revamping its Kimberley offering, with new turnarounds in Darwin, doubling the chance for cruisers to explore the Northern Territory.
From 2025, Silversea will run its 10-night Kimberley cruises roundtrip from NT, visiting only Broome as a port of call.
Silversea is making strategic changes to its cruise offerings in the Darwin region, opting for Darwin roundtrip voyages over the previous Darwin-Broome rotations. This shift aims to provide travelers with more opportunities for pre and post-cruise touring within the Northern Territory.
In addition to these changes, Silversea will introduce longer voyages departing from Darwin, such as Darwin-Bali and Darwin-Fiji, as part of their efforts to attract a more international clientele.
The upcoming addition to Silversea's fleet, Silver Cloud, is set to embark on her maiden voyage in June 2024, offering ten itineraries spanning 2024 and 2025. With a passenger capacity of 296, Silver Cloud represents a substantial 40% increase in capacity compared to the smaller Silver Explorer, which served the region in 2023.
These developments hold promise for various sectors in the Northern Territory, including retailers benefiting from cruise-related revenue, local businesses servicing the cruise shipping industry, and the broader tourism and hospitality sector.
Recognizing the economic significance of the cruise ship industry, which contributes an estimated $60 million in annual expenditure to the Territory, the Northern Territory Cruise Tourism Strategy 2022-2025 was introduced last year, providing a strategic framework for industry growth in the region.