World Heritage Cruises, Gordon River
Tourism Australia
Cruise Tourism
A range of cruise vessels visit Tasmania, from expedition and boutique or luxury cruise ships through to mid size and larger ships offering real opportunities for Tasmanian businesses, particularly those providing tours, attractions, food and beverage, and retail.
Getting started in cruise
Our How To Work With Cruise industry guide is designed for Tasmanian tourism operators looking to offer products to the cruise visitor market. It covers how to deliver shore experiences to passengers, who to work with and how the cruise distribution system works. The guide also includes information on different cruise lines and their passenger demographics, along with key contacts and useful links.
The Australian Cruise Association has developed a list of Alcohol Policies for all major cruise lines operating in Australia, to support wineries, distilleries and cideries selling their goods to passengers.
Cruise Tasmania destination brochures
We have developed two brochures for the cruise industry: a general Cruise Tasmania brochure for all cruise lines and an Expedition cruise Tasmania brochure for expedition cruise lines. These support cruise lines to plan future itineraries using local knowledge that showcases the best of Tasmania.
Norwegian Sun arriving at Hobart Port
Stu Gibson
Understanding the value of cruise
We are building a stronger evidence base to understand the economic, environmental and social impacts of cruise visitation in Tasmania, and to inform the directions of our new cruise strategy.
In 2022, we commissioned KPMG to produce the Value Proposition Report of the cruise market for Tasmania, which assessed the impacts and value of cruise shipping and its segments in the state.
The Australian Cruise Association published the Value of Cruise Tourism: 2023-24 Australian cruise industry economic contribution, which examines the value of cruise tourism around Australia.
Cruise Shipping Action Plan
Our Cruise Shipping Action Plan sets out our approach to growing the value of cruise visitation to Tasmania over four years from 2025–2026 to 2029–2030. Developed under the 2030 Visitor Economy Strategy and informed by research into cruise's economic value, brand alignment and community sentiment, the plan reflects our commitment to a cruise sector that delivers genuine, lasting benefit for the state.
Built around five priorities, the plan focuses on attracting higher value ships and itineraries, growing visitation beyond Hobart, reducing environmental impact, maintaining Tasmanians' strong support for cruise, and delivering shore experiences that are genuinely Tasmanian.
Download the research
Related information and industry resources
TasPorts
TasPorts is a government owned business responsible for the operations and management of all ports in Tasmania. TasPorts publishes the cruise ship schedule, which is the primary information source for cruise ship bookings at Tasmanian ports.
Shore excursion companies
Shore excursion companies, also known as Shore Ex or ground operators, design and operate day tours for passengers by packaging a range of products. They sell these tours to cruise lines for sale on board the ship prior to arrival.
Tasmanian providers include: