The cruise industry in French Polynesia, in The Islands of Tahiti, confirms a vigorous and ambitious recovery of activity. With small capacity ships, optimising itineraries and experiences in the different islands, luxury cruises, expeditions and mixed cargo ships show a forecast of more than 1,100 calls in 2022 in the five different archipelagoes.
A total of 140 roundtrip cruises are scheduled for 2022, involving ships of between 100 and 2000 passengers, with full cruises reaching 36 Polynesian islands departing from Papeete, where provisions and equipment supplies, all formalities and passenger turn arounds are handled.
“Even if the forecast occupancy rates are below the 2019 figures, all the islands, their population, tourism stakeholders and authorities are delighted and impatient to be able to interact again with the companies, the crew members and passengers. Resilience in the restart of the industry recovery is well underway in French Polynesia. We believe in this economic model, which has been ours for the past 10 years for the cruise industry,” said Jean-Marc Mocellin, General Manager of Tahiti Tourisme.
Despite the crisis, the hazards and constraints the pandemic caused for two years, The Islands of Tahiti managed to maintain a cruise activity, with ships doing turn arounds in Papeete, with rigorous protocols that allowed the epidemic not to spread.
The Tahiti Cruise Club (TCC) held its first annual general meeting in mid-February to inform all its members of the forecasts and the evolution of the situation.
Aranui, a Polynesian cargo passenger ship serving the Marquesas Islands, Paul Gauguin that has been taken over by the French company Ponant, and Wind Spirit, a sailing cruise ship belonging to Windstar, have sailed the waters of Polynesia in both 2020 and 2021. Their schedules are also effective for 2022.
In addition, many companies have already resumed or are planning major operations in French Polynesia in the coming months: Windstar with StarBreeze, Lindblad with Orion National Geographic, Oceania with Regatta and Insignia, The World, or Norwegian Cruise Line with tNorwegian Spirit. Beyond the more occasional operations planned, Silversea, Princess Cruises, Aida Cruises, Swan Hellenic, Royal Caribbean, Viking and Holland America Line are among the most loyal. It was also announced that Variety Cruises would be starting new operations in Polynesia.
