Newcastle Port Corporation
  

History of Cruise Hunter

The Cruise Hunter project was established in 2002 to evaluate the feasibility of Newcastle and the surrounding Hunter Region as a destination for visiting cruise and naval vessels. This followed earlier feasibility studies in 2001.

The Cruise Hunter two year trial period focussed on four main areas:
  1. promoting and marketing the region on an international and national level;
  2. regional collaboration with relevant stakeholders;
  3. working and liaising with regional tourism industry to develop and incubate suitable products and itineraries for these target markets; and
  4. coordinating and developing the logistical requirements of the land and water-side of ports of call to ensure services are delivered to visiting ships at a high standard
The initial trial period was highly successful in attracting cruise and navy ships to the port and regional stakeholders committed to continue to support the Cruise Hunter project. Newcastle City Council managed the Cruise Hunter between 2004 and 2007 where the number of annual cruise and naval visits continued to grow.
 
Cruise Hunter relocated to Newcastle Port Corporation in late 2007 linking the synergy between the tourism marketing and development of the project with port operations. Newcastle Port Corporation set the objective to develop strategies to secure the long term future of Cruise Hunter.
 
In January 2009 Celebrity Cruises Millennium became the largest cruise ship to enter the Port of Newcastle at 294 metres in length, weighing 91,000 tonnes and bringing over 2,000 passengers to the Hunter Region.
 
A significant development for Newcastle as a cruise destination occurred in March 2009 when Carnival Australia announced to home port the P&O cruise ship, Pacific Sun, in Newcastle from September 2010. Newcastle Port Corporation and the New South Wales State Government announced a $2.55 million investment to recommission the Channel Berth to provide a more suitable berth for cruise and naval vessels and to assist in establishing Newcastle as a home port for cruise ships.