The possibility of a cruise ship terminal being built at Coffs Harbour or Yamba is being investigated by the New South Wales Government.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance has announced a feasibility study looking into the terminal, saying the move to expand the state's cruise industry was part of the Government's future transport blueprint.
"There's no doubt the experience in my electorate of Eden on the far south coast has been incredible for those local communities," Mr Constance said in Coffs Harbour today.
"Here on the mid north coast there is a wonderful tourist offering to entice people to enjoy the benefits of cruise ships.
"We will now look at the infrastructure opportunities and do the necessary assessment in relation to what would be required.
This is obviously going to be a major investment moving forward, but we want to do our homework first."
Capitalising on growth industry
Mr Constance said NSW currently had one of the world's fastest-growing cruise industries.
"There is no doubt there is a need for cruise ships to come to the mid north coast," he said.
"We want to capitalise on that growth for regional people and that's why we're here today.
"I think the demand that passengers have to come into ports, be it Coffs, Eden, Yamba, even Newcastle, shows there's a real opportunity here and we should explore it."
The harbour at Coffs Harbour is prone to siltation, so it is unlikely cruise ships would enter it and moor at the heritage-listed timber jetty.
In Eden, the Government has invested in a commercial wharf extension to allow 300-metre vessels to pull up alongside it.
At the moment passengers are ferried to shore.
Sapphire Coast Tourism said it had had cruise ships coming into Eden since 2002.
This summer 15 ships using tenders will come to the south coast, injecting an millions into the local economy.
Coffs Harbour 'has obvious attributes', MP says
Coffs Harbour MP Andrew Fraser said the most likely scenario if Coffs was selected for the terminal would be to initially tender people to shore.
He said while it may be 10 years away, a cruise ship terminal would help invigorate the Coffs economy and give it international recognition.
"Coffs Harbour has all the obvious attributes. It has a great harbour, a safe harbour, and an airport with the capacity to take 767 jets," he said.
"It also has customs and immigration. We can fly visitors in and out of here, so they could cruise in and fly out.
"You could triangulate cruises between Cairns, Brisbane and Coffs, or Sydney, Coffs and Brisbane.
"It just ticks every box in my book."
