Addressing the New Zealand Cruise Association's annual conference in Auckland on 13 August, CLIA Australasia and Asia executive director Joel Katz said New Zealand is competing for ship deployment not only with Australia but with Alaska, Japan, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and other regions. He argued passenger demand alone does not decide itineraries, as lines also weigh operating costs, port availability, regulation, infrastructure, fuel and reliability, and said the country must offer three things to win visits back: confidence, certainty and competitiveness. Katz cautioned that continually layering new or uncertain charges ultimately affects itinerary length and how many ports a ship can call at.
Speaking at the NZCA conference in Auckland, Joel Katz told delegates that a cruise line, its guests and host communities may all want a ship to visit, but an itinerary still has to work operationally and economically. He said deployment choices across a global network turn on factors such as operating costs, port availability, regulatory requirements, infrastructure, fuel and overall destination reliability, with every additional or duplicated cost taken into account. Katz framed New Zealand's task around three needs: confidence that the country wants cruise tourism and values it; certainty, including adequate lead time and rules that do not change after commercial decisions are made; and competitiveness, meaning transparent and internationally proportionate operating conditions rather than simply the lowest price. He noted the industry can adapt to reasonable requirements but warned that continually increasing charges affects deployment and the number of ports a ship can visit.