Big ships are big business. A Flinders University survey, conducted for the South Australian Tourism Commission, estimates the economic benefits to South Australia from eleven cruise ship visits during the 2003/2004 summer at between $2.6 and $4.2 million.
And according to Cultural Tourism lecturer Mrs Chris Fanning, the totals are conservative, since the figures do not include spending by the ship's crews.
Almost 16,000 passengers and more than 7000 crew visited Adelaide and its environs, and nearly all were enthusiastic about the local facilities, services and attractions, with 91 per cent of the surveyed visitors indicating they would recommend Adelaide to others as a destination.
Cultural Tourism and Ecotourism students from Flinders gave up portions of their summer holidays to interview hundreds of the cruise ship passengers who disembarked at the Outer Harbour terminal between January and March. Among the visiting ships was the American ship Start Princess. The ship, which carries 2000 passengers, docked at Outer Harbour on several occasions.
Most of the tourists came from the USA, the UK or Germany. The survey revealed that the visitors were predominantly aged over 60, and most were either retired or had a professional occupation.
As far as spending, the visitors outlaid most of their money on shopping, food and drink, transport, tours and attractions, and personal services.
"It was pleasing to see that they wanted nature-based and cultural activities as well as food and wine-based activities," Mrs Fanning said.
In addition to supplying printed guides and maps, the SA Tourism Commission organised uniformed volunteers through the Adelaide and Port Adelaide Enfield councils to give advice to independent travellers. The "meet and greet" strategy paid off, with the survey identifying high levels of visitor satisfaction with both the information officers and visitor guides.
Most passengers also reported that they had enjoyed their tours, whether they had booked tours on board through private operators or planned their own programs. Adelaide's public transport services and cabbies both got good marks.
Mrs Fanning said that while Americans were more free-spending in terms of daily per capita spending, visitors from the UK who were travelling on longer-term, round-the-world trips typically spent more time ashore, with many making interstate trips by road.
And while locals may consider the Outer Harbour terminal and its surrounds to be somewhat industrial, the ship-borne visitors were not put off. Some of the passengers considered the terminal to be the best they had used in Australia, Mrs Fanning said.
"They are close to transport and they can access the beach," she said. "And the fact that there is a nearby golf course impressed the Americans in particular."
Mrs Fanning said most visitors made good use of a retail village organised at the terminal by the Tourist Commission. It comprised several stalls selling locally made wine, produce, jewellery and clothes, as well as offering works of local and Indigenous art.
Mrs Fanning said the volume of passengers arriving in South Australia during the annual cruise ship season seems set to grow significantly, having already experienced a 30 per cent increase in arrivals since 2001. She said that the survey demonstrated that Adelaide was well placed to capitalise on the influx.
Inevitably, there were a few complaints - one passenger, for example, found Adelaide too flat.
"Unfortunately there's not much we can do about that," Mrs Fanning said. Mrs Fanning will incorporate the results of the research in a chapter she is writing for an international publication on trends in cruise tourism to be released next year.
