Auckland Cruise Calls Set to Increase

As travelers look to explore new horizons, destinations like Europe, South America, and Asia are seeing massive growth in terms of cruise ship deployment.  Cruise lines are looking to deploy their fleet in the most profitable regions, and those areas are increasingly in locations formerly thought of as "exotic", but quickly leading the new wave of mainstream cruising.

New Zealand is one of those destinations.  In the country's largest city, Auckland, Prime Minister John Key told a packed tourism conference he supports the development of a new cruise terminal which would be built at Queen's Wharf.

The reason for the announcement?  The revelation that the 2011/2012 cruise season is poised to see an increase in calls of 53% - an astonishing number of calls that many destinations in North America would scramble to get ahold of.

Recognizing that, Prime Minister Key pledged to have the terminal and corresponding convention centre built "as soon as possible" in order to take advantage of the burgeoning cruise market.  Both New Zealand and Australia have seen an explosion in cruise calls to their region, with almost every major cruise line operating a series - or even a full season - of voyages "down under."

Aiding the region's growth is the relative ease of arrival: many West Coast cities offer direct flights to Auckland, and while flight times range in the 13 to 14 hour range, few require a connection and many can be had for less than a comparable flight to Europe.  Being located in the Southern Hemisphere also helps, as they experience their winter when the Northern Hemisphere is desperate to escape theirs. 

So is a New Zealand adventure in your future?  Have a peek at your favorite cruise line to discover why this region is quickly becoming one of the hottest destinations in the world.