Akaroa residents need to be brought on board as cruise consternation continues

Recent media reports show the cruise ship debate is still alive and well in Akaroa, but the situation could be helped by more certainty and transparency, Lincoln University tourism researcher Dr Michael Shone says.

One year on from a study Dr Shone and fellow Lincoln University researcher Dr Jude Wilson carried out in Akaroa, there are still questions raised over whether the ship arrivals are embraced by residents.

The 2013 research was commissioned in response to concerns voiced by the community over the number of cruise tourist visitors since the ships were re-routed from Lyttelton after the 2011 earthquakes.

The tension in Akaroa could be relieved by more certainty over how long the cruise ship visits will continue, Dr Shone said.

Increased transparency over where the money raised by the ship visits could also help get locals on board, he said.

To plan for the future, and to invest in tourism infrastructure and facilities, residents needed to know if the visits were going to be on a more permanent basis.

More certainty would allow residents to make plans and long-term changes which could help alleviate current issues, such as moving drop-off and pick-up points for the ships to stop the buses carrying the passengers going through the town.

He said some of the town’s facilities were still damaged and inaccessible because of the earthquakes. Knowing some of the money the ships paid to anchor in Akaroa was reinvested into the town could also help alleviate some tensions.

The research showed the majority of residents took a “balanced” approach to cruise ship visits, with most realising there were benefits for the town.

The rapid increase in cruise ship numbers had an impact on the town, but had become a fact of life there.

“This was a rapid and fundamental change for a small place like Akaroa, which went from hosting 21,000 cruise tourism visitors per year to something like 144,000,” Dr Shone said.

“Like many tourism towns, the Akaroa community is resilient. They also understand that cruise ship tourism is increasingly becoming the “new wave” of visitors to the town,” he said.

He said cruise tourism, as a market sector, was experiencing considerable growth internationally and in New Zealand.

For host communities, the challenge was to accommodate cruise ships in a way which did not impact negatively on their quality of life, Dr Shone said.

“Cruise tourism is of increasing importance to many regional destinations in New Zealand, and could potentially become a topical issue in those communities.”

He will present the Akaroa research findings at the New Zealand Tourism and Hospitality Research Conference in Hamilton next week.

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