“South Australia continues to welcome more ship visits year on year. With larger vessels coming into Australia our infrastructure is ready to host the largest of ships and our tourism products and experiences will exceed passenger expectations,” said Leah Clarke, manager product and cruise development for the South Australia Tourism Commission.

The destinations in the state are highlighted by Adelaide, Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island. Two smaller regional ports may also enter the mix in time for the 2019-2020 cruise season, Clarke said.

“We’ve seen significant growth in domestic homeporting with P&O Australia offering itineraries with Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria, Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) offering itineraries with the Astor and from 2019 with the Vasco Da Gama,” Clarke continued, adding that Princess has also recently added itineraries sailing from Adelaide.

Kangaroo Island has been part of the success story. Having started with three calls in the 2012-2013 season, the destination will now welcome 30 ship visits for 2018-2019. Thirty-four percent of guests visiting the port take organized shore excursions, Clarke said.

South Australia has a cruise ship master plan, which aims to attract 100 total cruise visits annually by 2020, with hopes of contributing $200 million AUD to the state economy.

In Adelaide the port’s passenger terminal was recently upgraded with new elevators, stairs, signage and imagery. The navigational channel is currently undergoing a significant widening project to accept bigger ships, with a targeted completion date of later this year.

“We continue to work hard to deliver new experiences for cruise lines to sell, activating our amazing natural assets to offer exclusive products,” Clarke said. “We build new destinations for future itineraries and we work hard to continually seek investment into port infrastructure to keep up with growing demand.”