Brisbane Cruise Terminal | Portside Parking

Cruising towards really big business!

The Brisbane Cruise Terminal story is becoming one of a thriving business, bringing huge amounts of welcome revenue to Queensland.

Here's two questions: how many cruise ships have visited us during the 2017/8 period and how many passengers have they brought?

You'll find the answers later in this article. Kate Jones, the Tourism Minister, has stated that cruising has emerged as the fastest-growing aspect of the global tourism industry. No wonder Brisbane is the accepted cruise capital of Australia!

Future plans seek to allow mega-cruise ships to operate out of the Brisbane Cruise Terminal, with target destinations such as The Whitsundays and across the South Pacific. This is also reflected in the upgrading of cruise facilities in both Cairns and Townsville.

The Answer to Those Questions

During the period in question, a new record was set, with 520 cruise ships on Queensland's shores. This is an 11% increase year-on-year. On board these liners were over three-quarters of a million travellers - a mind-boggling number.

With the state's tourism economy reckoned to be worth around $25 billion; the $1.1 billion from this sector is a substantial contributor which is only likely to grow. Last summer, Brisbane alone hosted a couple of hundred ships; over half-a-million visitors and crew spent more than $386 million locally.

The three Pacific-named P&O line ships - Dawn, Aria and Jewel - have Brisbane as their home port, and the magnificent Queen Victoria is also set to visit our city.

The need to take this success story that step further

Mega cruise ships - those 270 metres or more in length - are simply too large to be able to use Portside at Hamilton. They currently berth at the massive grain terminal, set at the mouth of the Brisbane River. But the facilities offered there are currently as limited as you might expect.

The Development at Luggage Point

This is why, back in 2017, the green light was initially given for the construction of the new Brisbane Cruise Terminal, to be built at Luggage Point.

In May of this year, the competition regulator gave the conditional go-ahead for an agreement between the Port of Brisbane and Carnival over access to the mega-terminal development, expected to cost $158 million.

This will bring the total invested in the port area to around half a billion dollars this decade. The Luggage Point project has also seen an agreement to fast-track key roadworks, infrastructure and parkland works in the area.

It was expected that almost 250 jobs would be created during its construction. The finished terminal is over 9,000 square metres in size and covers two levels. Two air bridges will provide connections to the arriving vessels and large viewing areas will also be provided.

Cruising into the Future

With these extensive development plans in place, it's not difficult to imagine that, within the next few years, the Brisbane Cruise Terminal and, indeed the whole state of Queensland, will become one the world's great destinations for the ever-expanding cruise industry.

The Answer to Those Questions

The Development at Luggage Point

Cruising into the Future

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