The start of planning for a third cruise ship terminal in Sydney Harbour doesn't mean Wollongong has been overlooked as a possible location.
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With the federal government ruling out Garden Island as an option for a new terminal, the NSW government is gauging the interest in a site at Port Botany.
"This potential terminal at Port Botany would address the capacity constraints we're seeing at the Overseas Passenger Terminal," Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.
Called a "market engagement process", it's the first stage in developing a detailed business case assessing the move.
The news didn't concern Cruise Wollongong chair Leigh Colacino, who said he'd known it was on the cards for some time.
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He said it didn't take Port Kembla out of the mix when it came to being a cruise ship destination.
"Don't forget that we're not Sydney," Mr Colacino said.
"We're not another option to go into Sydney; we are a standalone port to attract people.
"But we also recognise that, because of our proximity to Sydney we can cope with an overload."
Port Kembla's focus is accommodating day trips and developing so-called turnaround opportunities - where people start their voyage at the harbour.
This is happening in January 21, 2021, when the Norwegian Star will leave Port Kembla bound for New Zealand.
Mr Colacino said it wasn't an either/or decision when it came to Sydney and Port Kembla - both ports could exist as cruise ship destinations because they offered different things.
"Sydney, around the world is recognised as one of the go-to ports because of that thing of sailing in through the Sydney Heads, and then seeing the harbour bridge and the opera house as they come into view," Mr Colacino said.
"We don't desire to have any of those competing iconic things. What we've got is our own backdrop, which is the escarpment.
"People have to sail past all our beaches to get to Port Kembla and all the time there's the backdrop of the escarpment.
"That in itself is an attractor."
He added that passengers weren't coming to the region to experience Sydney, they were coming to see Wollongong and the Illawarra.
"There's a whole gamut of cruise ships out there and they're looking for new and exciting places to go to," he said.
"Often those passengers have already seen the opera house and harbour bridge when they've sailed into Sydney."
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
