Mayor cold on benefit of cruise visits

Attracting cruise ships to Bunbury is no longer a priority due to their minimal economic benefits, according to Mayor Gary Brennan.

Mr Brennan acknowledged issues with visitor access and transport to Bunbury's CBD once ships docked and said he was comfortable with ships choosing Busselton over Bunbury.

"I'm not fussed, providing the cruise ships visit the South West," he said.

"If they visit Busselton I'm very relaxed about that.

"Cruise ships come to Bunbury for a few hours - they're only here for a very short period of time and not terrific generators of cash flow from our experience.

"The cost-benefit analysis would say why bother?"

Busselton Mayor Ian Stubbs described cruise ships as a "great boost" to the city's economy and was surprised at Bunbury's position.

"If Bunbury don't want them, we'll gladly take them," he said.

"I find it rather strange because visitors coming from cruise ships are spending time and money in our CBD and Dunsborough.

"This is marvellous for our local economy and exposure for people who come on short visits."

Bunbury Port Authority's cruise ship schedule shows only three cruise ships have docked in the last three years, with the most recent being in March 2014.

The schedule shows the Astor will dock twice in Bunbury during January 2016 but lists nothing else until 2018.

Dolphin Discovery Centre general manager David Kerr did not believe the loss of cruise ships would have a major impact.

"As a tourism operator, I've found we never really generated significant income from cruise ships," he said.

"There's a lot of difficulty in attracting cruise ships to the city and strategically, cruise companies themselves are always looking for new options."

South West Development Commission chief executive Don Punch believes the whole South West could benefit from cruise ships.

"Through the South West Cruise Alliance, we continue to support marketing of the South West region - Bunbury, Busselton and Augusta - as a cruise ship destination," he said.

"Cruise tourism benefits include expenditure by passengers while they are exploring local sites and towns, as well as the fact that passengers may be enticed to return to the region to holiday after receiving a taste of what it has to offer.

"However, it is up to local traders to determine how to best take advantage of cruise ship tourism."