ODYBOAT Cruise Flow
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Flows and tracking Peer-reviewed journal

Where cruise passengers go after disembarking in Sydney

In a small preliminary sample, Australians from elsewhere travelled on average much farther from the terminal (about 143 km) than international passengers, who stayed near the port.

Measuring cruise passenger dispersal through technology — Hardy, A.; Vorobjovas-Pinta, O.; Wells, M. et al. · Annals of Tourism Research 93 (2022) 103319 (Research Note)

WhereSydney
Year2022
SourceAnnals of Tourism Research 93 (2022) 103319 (Research Note)
Strength of methodMedium

Note on the source. This source should be read with caution: it may be funded by the sector, a draft or a thesis, or rely on self-reported or modelled data. See the limitations below.

The question

Where do cruise passengers go once their cruise ends at the final port of disembarkation (homeport), and can their mobility be measured accurately? The study compares local residents, domestic and international passengers.

The method

GPS tracking via a smartphone app combined with a questionnaire, for up to 28 days after disembarkation at the White Bay and Circular Quay terminals; convenience sampling from mid-January to 13 March 2020; 75 usable tracks after cleaning. Analysis of stops, dispersal metrics (maximum straight-line distance) and overlay with a land-use map.

What the study finds

75 tracksusable after data cleaningAfter discarding tracks that were too short or incomplete, the study had 75 usable recordings: 20 from Greater Sydney residents, 43 from Australians living elsewhere and 12 from international passengers.
≈ 143 kmaverage max distance, Australians from elsewhereThe farthest point reached in a straight line from the terminal averaged about 143 km for Australians from elsewhere, compared with about 27 km for international passengers and 32 km for Sydney residents; the difference is statistically significant.
53%of non-Sydney Australians tracked beyond the Central CoastMore than half (53%) of Australian passengers from outside Sydney were tracked beyond Sydney and the Central Coast; no international visitor or Sydney resident in the sample went that far.
9 h 41 minaverage time international visitors spent downtownEvery international passenger in the sample spent time in the city centre and harbour-side areas, staying there about 9 hours 41 minutes on average.
  • International passengers' tracks are the shortest (median 21 hours), since many end at the international airport within 24 hours of arrival; medians for Australians from elsewhere and for residents are 54 and 72 hours.
  • International visitors behave most like tourists, averaging 15.8 stops at recreational, cultural or natural places and 9.6 at commercial ones, against much lower figures for both Australian groups; they rarely go beyond 10 km from the port.
Why it matters for ports and cities

In this sample, where passengers come from strongly shapes the territorial footprint of the final disembarkation: international visitors stay near the port and often leave within a day, while Australians from elsewhere travel farther but make fewer tourism-type stops. For a turnaround port this suggests flow-distribution policies tailored by segment.

Limitations

A preliminary research note with 75 tracks and convenience sampling (only 12 international passengers), cut short by the pandemic; the land-use map (2013-2017) may not reflect the actual reason for a stop.

Full reference and source

Hardy, A., Vorobjovas-Pinta, O., Wells, M., Grimmer, L., Grimmer, M. (2022). Measuring cruise passenger dispersal through technology. Annals of Tourism Research 93 (2022) 103319 (Research Note).

Read the original study ↗

Summary written by the ODYBOAT Observatory in our own words. Tables and figures belong to the authors.