With the ink barely dry on a glossy new bid document to help drive Wollongong's campaign to become the state's third cruise terminal and turnaround port, the head of tourism in the city has hit the road to begin the hard sell.

Jeremy Wilshire and the business development team from Destination Wollongong are travelling to Western Australia this week to attend the Australian cruise industry's annual conference. 

They're armed with plenty of copies of the new prospectus, launched last Thursday by Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown, with the support of eight regional mayors who are looking forward to the potential flow-on benefits.

Tourism chief now 'cruise director'

At the launch, attended by Mr Wilshire, the Lord Mayor jokingly referred to the Destination Wollongong General Manager as "the cruise director" for Wollongong's bid, and the person to handle all the enquiries on behalf of the city and region.

The three-day annual conference of the Australian Cruise Association, which starts on Wednesday in Fremantle, brings together all the key players in the Australian cruise industry, and is dedicated to marketing the region internationally as an ideal destination for cruise ships. Wollongong is keen to be a part of that conversation.

With a compelling new pitch document hot off the press, the timing couldn't be better for Mr Wilshire to head west to try to win even more support for the bid to have the next major Australian cruise port located at Port Kembla. 

Already, heavy hitters in the cruising business have backed the Wollongong bid, including Royal Caribbean's senior vice-president Gavin Smith, who is on the record saying he would "move the Royal Caribbean fleet there tomorrow" if Port Kembla was to become a cruise port.

Peak cruise industry body supports our bid

When he arrives in Fremantle, Mr Wilshire will be among friends. Australian Cruise Association (ACA) CEO, Jill Abel, has "strongly" backed Council's bid and wants to see Port Kembla welcome cruise lines. She said it was vitally important to "plan now for the next decade of growth in the Australian cruise sector".

"Sydney remains a key gateway to Australia, and developing additional capacity in surrounding ports such as Port Kembla could help meet the increasing demand from international and local cruise lines, and deliver long-term benefits for local communities, regional tourism, and the wider visitor economy."

Wollongong hosted the ACA's annual conference in 2023, which was when the lobbying work really began.

"I think this terminal is one of the key pieces of product that we need, and we should do everything we can to nail it," Mr Wilshire told The Illawarra Flame shortly before heading west to this year's event.

A powerful pitch to conference delegates

"It would be transformative, not only for our visitor economy but more broadly for the region. As a turnaround port the servicing industries and the broader sector all come into play, and it would allow for more commissionable product on the international stage."

With the new prospectus in hand, Mr Wilshire used his catch up with The Flame to practice his pitch to delegates at the conference of Australia's peak cruise industry body.

"Sydney Harbour is looking to reach capacity in 2028, so there's an illustrated need, and we are well placed to fill that need," he said.

"We have a deep harbour port. We are just down the road (from Sydney). We are close to airports; so yes, we need to be front and centre of those conversations." 

The title of the conference, 'Anchoring Success Across Every Region', seems tailor-made for an Illawarra region keen to establish itself as the next cruising hot spot, and on Thursday a panel of experts will discuss 'The State of the Australian Cruise Industry and Future Outlook'.

Lord Mayor Tania Brown told the media at last week's prospectus launch that Port Kembla and Wollongong is the logical, cost-effective and sustainable choice for Sydney's third cruise terminal.

A final decision rests with the NSW Government but the words from local MP Paul Scully at Thursday's launch should give the bid team great heart.

"The Minns Government established the Cruise Industry Advisory Panel to determine the best solutions to grow cruising in NSW, and I believe Wollongong and the Illawarra has a strong case to be at the front of the queue for NSW's next cruise terminal," Mr Scully said.