Helen Hutcheon

1 day ago | seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon

Paspaley Expeditions flew Sydney trade media to Dili, capital of Timor-Leste, to sail on a shakedown voyage to Darwin aboard the motor-yacht Paspaley Pearl. Sarina Bratton, who founded Orion Expedition Cruises and is now executive chair of Paspaley Expeditions, made maritime history when Orion became the first cruise ship to call at the newly-independent nation of East Timor in 2005.

3 days ago | seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon

Cruise Lines International Association President and CEO Bud Darr will present the keynote address at Cruise360 Australasia 2025 in Brisbane August 27-28. Darr took CLIA’s top job in February, having previously held the post of Snr VP technical and regulatory affairs from 2010 to 2017. Before returning to CLIA, he served as MSC Group’s EVP maritime policy & government affairs, based in Geneva. He also served in the US Navy and the US Coast Guard.

1 week ago | seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon

A ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opened The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’sAsia Pacific headquarters in central Sydney’s Australia Square Tower. This follows the appointment of Seb Seward, former head of joint business for British Airways who transferred from the UK to Sydney almost a year ago to take up the role of VP and GM Asia Pacific. Local appointmentsIn March, Seward hired Melbourne-based Anastasia Kotanidis as director, travel partnerships, Australia and New Zealand.

1 week ago | seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon

The Australian industry mourns the death of Geoff McGeary, son of Bill McGeary who founded what is now the APT Travel Group. He was 83. Bill McGeary converted his tray truck into a bus to transport commuters left stranded by Melbourne’s 1927 cable-tram strike. McGeary Parlour CoachesMcGeary added more vehicles to what became McGeary Parlour Coaches. When his son Geoff was 19, Bill, who had Parkinson’s disease, was deteriorating and Geoff took over the fleet of five vehicles.

1 week ago | seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon

Cruise Lines International Association Australasia’s Source Market Report for New Zealand showed 80,200 New Zealanders took an ocean cruise during 2024, a 7.1% decrease from 2023 when 86,300 sailed. The number is also below the 106,300 people who sailed in 2019. Around two-thirds of New Zealanders (65%, or 52,500) sailed within Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific — traditionally the most popular region for the market.