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Akaroa among Australasia’s best cruise destinations

Published: Wed 25 Jul 2018 03:33 PM
Carnival Spirit in Akaroa Harbour
Wednesday 25 July 2018
Post-card perfect Akaroa has been named amongst New Zealand and Australia’s top three cruise destinations in the annual Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards.
The honour sees Akaroa voted ahead of all other New Zealand cruise destinations for the 2017-2018 season, taking out third place in the passenger review-rating based awards.
ChristchurchNZ Destination Manager Caroline Blanchfield, said the recognition was reflective of Akaroa’s warm community welcome to cruise visitors.
“This award shows that visitors are clearly enjoying the wonderfully warm Akaroa visitor experience and that’s a big credit to the Akaroa community,” Ms Blanchfield says.
“Akaroa has stepped up to take on the lion’s share of Christchurch and Canterbury’s cruise destination since the Christchurch earthquakes, which has been great for the village, despite the added strain on the infrastructure there,” she says.
Akaroa, Tauranga and Wellington were named in the top five of the ‘Top Rated Australia and New Zealand Cruise Destinations’ category, with Sydney taking first place.
Kevin O’Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Cruise Association, says the award is a wonderful affirmation of the value of cruise tourism to New Zealand.
“New Zealand Cruise Association is delighted that Akaroa, Wellington and Tauranga have been named in the Top-Rated Australia and New Zealand Cruise Destinations category.
Cruise Critic, TripAdvisor’s cruise site, is the world’s largest online cruise review and planning resource.
Ms Blanchfield says the impact of cruise ships visiting Canterbury ports has wider and longer-term significant positive benefits for the regional economy.
“The Akaroa cruise experience coupled with the new cruise berth in Lyttleton will cement Christchurch’s position as a premiere cruise destination,” Ms Blanchfield says.
“Close to 50 per cent of cruise passengers return to a cruise destination they enjoyed for a longer holiday,” she said.
“This award shows that Akaroa has truly done a wonderful job in making visitors feel welcome.”
ENDS

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