Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises executives Lisa Pile and cruise industry \u2018godfather\u2019 Steve Odell say growth in Australia\u2019s fly-cruise market will hinge on airlift capacity, as both luxury brands expand itineraries into Japan, winter Europe and emerging expedition destinations.<\/strong><\/p>\n Australia\u2019s fly-cruise market could double over the next five to 10 years, according to the pair, though growth remains tied to airlift currently available.<\/p>\n \u201cTen years ago when we opened our corporate office, there was about 400,000 people doing fly-cruises,\u201d vice-president sales and general manager Asia Pacific Pile said during a break at Cruise360 at ICC Sydney today, \u201c(Now) it looks like it\u2019s going to double in the next five to 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Total cruise passenger numbers from Australia were forecast to reach 1.5 million by 2029, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re completely reliant on how much airlift we have out of Australia and New Zealand,\u201d Pile said.<\/p>\n While the brands had no direct contact with the airlines, they worked with CLIA and major travel partners in trying to identify with various stakeholders in what that growth looks like.<\/p>\n Brand ambassador Odell said new carriers and new airport infrastructure \u2013 such as the newly announced EgyptAir, Western Sydney Airport and Melbourne\u2019s third runway \u2013 could add capacity to Australia and was a positive sign for the sector.<\/p>\n Odell, recently dubbed \u201cthe godfather of Australian cruising\u201d said fly-cruise was the standout growth opportunity as domestic cruising softened.<\/p>\n \u201cThe domestic cruising is having a tough time,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the growth in the fly-cruise market is the big opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Added Pile: \u201cWe\u2019ve tried with Navigator<\/em> cruising Australia during the traditional dry season period, which is our winter, and that has sold very, very well,\u201d with the ship sailing the Western Australian coast, the Top End, and into Asia and Fiji. A reverse-season deployment is planned for 2027.<\/p>\n Meanwhile Europe is surging with Pile saying shoulder season is blending into peak.<\/p>\n \u201cWe introduced winter in Europe this year for Regent for the 26\/27 season, and it\u2019s sold very, very well \u2013 there\u2019s very little inventory left \u2013 and next year we introduce Allura<\/em> for Oceania doing Quiet Mediterranean,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Regent\u2019s Riviera<\/em> is currently sailing the Mediterranean over winter, which Odell said was \u201ca big sign of confidence\u201d in the destination, citing lower airfares and uncrowded access to the most popular attractions.<\/p>\n He said itinerary planning around events such as Christmas markets and Venice\u2019s carnival, alongside winter-sun stops in Malta and Sardinia, was key to the strategy.<\/p>\n Among the segments, expedition cruising is one to watch Odell said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe expedition guys and the small-ship guys have got to look for unique destinations \u2013 that\u2019s the opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cI do believe that there\u2019ll be big growth in the expedition small-ship market,\u201d citing the Kimberley, Papua New Guinea and Raja Ampat as under-served regions for adventurous Australian travellers.<\/p>\n Pile and Odell also discussed cross-brand customer migration and proegression.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually more from NCL through to Oceania, and then Oceania through to Regent,\u201d Pile said, noting the shift was supported by combined loyalty status across Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania and Regent within parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. Regent guests were more likely to stay loyal to the brand, she said, with movement typically itinerary-led rather than experience-led.<\/p>\n On demographics, Pile said the core market \u2013 guests aged in their mid-50s to 70s \u2013 had remained numerically stable, but their expectations had changed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 60- to 70-year-old today looks very different than the 60- or 70-year-old from 10 or 15 years ago,\u201d she said. They have a different mindset that includes shore excursions such as bike riding, canoeing or husky-drawn bobsled experiences that \u201cyou would never have given 10, 15 years ago,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n CLIA Hall of Fame inductee Odell, who has worked out of Australia for 25 years before stepping back recently into the ambassador role, said the industry continued to work collaboratively through CLIA to advance the cause of cruise.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve all given our own time outside of commercial to contribute and support that, and that\u2019s really important for anybody involved in our industry,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t just sell tickets for your company, you do things for the good of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n Pile pointed to her advocacy work with the Northern Territory cruise sector, including the Darwin Cruise Forum, as an example of that impact.<\/p>\n \u201cCruise has such a dispersal effect and impact,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you see a ship in port in a regional township, it\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises executives Lisa Pile and cruise industry \u2018godfather\u2019 Steve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0463_17092026_CLIA360-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0463_17092026_CLIA360-1024x683.jpg\")
Expedition on the rise<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What\u2019s next<\/strong><\/h2>\n