Lyttelton residents and business owners are having their say as they brace for the next cruise season.
The 2022/23 season saw more than 125,000 tourists disembark in the port town as cruise ships returned for the first time in more than a decade. The port was forced to close after its original cruise facilities were damaged in the 2011 earthquake, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic soon after the rebuild was completed.
Now talk has turned to its impact on the town.
“The main problem is with a very large cruise ship – say, 4500 – you're then talking about twice as many people on the ship as live in Lyttelton,” the Lyttelton Community Association’s Ken Maynard said.
“When they arrive in the town, we are somewhat overrun.”
Concerns were raised with officials at a public meeting last week, with transport issues a sore point.
One local told 1News they struggled to get a seat on the bus.
“I get the number 28 bus and I would have to change the day that I would go into the city if I could so that I wouldn’t coincide with the cruise ship passengers because sometimes you couldn't get on,” they said.
Maynard said locals “don't want to stand in the way of them having a good time, but not at the expense of our local environment”.
But there are upsides to the influx of cruise ship tourists.
Figures show visitor spending was higher in Lyttelton on cruise ship days.
Local café owner Raman Kaur has seen the benefits, but said it “shouldn't be at the cost of issues which Lyttelton people are facing”.
“If we can just sit down and resolve all of those issues and still having the opportunity to serve tourists coming out of cruise ships, I think that is going to be great.”
Christchurch’s economic development agency, ChristchurchNZ, said it’s been pleased to hear from Lyttelton residents and businesses.
It said it's important tourism is giving back as much as it’s taking, and is looking forward to working alongside the community to achieve better outcomes from cruises.
The cruise industry said it's is also listening.
“We know that the importance and the balance of managing the economic benefit that comes to the region, but also the township and the community sentiment and ensuring that there's a nice balance between both of those so we're really open to continue to do that,” New Zealand Cruise Association chief executive Jacqui Lloyd said.
A community working group has now been established in the hope of finding solutions before the next influx of cruise tourists later this year.
SHARE ME