Eden has struggled to attract cruise ships because a lack of shore facilities means each vessel has to anchor in the open waters of Twofold Bay and ferry passengers to shore on a fleet three or four smaller “tender” vessels.

But the federal and state governments are pouring $50 million into infrastructure on the Sapphire Coast, with $44 million to build a cruise ship wharf in Twofold Bay, and the rest to improve facilities at nearby Merimbula Airport.

Cruise Eden cruise manager Natalie Godward said the cruise industry had responded positively to news of the berth, and the numbers of cruise ships booked to stop at Eden had risen dramatically as a consequence.

In contrast to the money promised to Eden – in the marginal federal seat of Eden-Monaro – the Port of Newcastle secured just $800,000 in election funding, to install new bollards at the Channel Berth at Carrington where cruise ships visiting the Hunter are docked.

Tourism Hunter chairman Will Creedon said Newcastle was on the front foot as a cruise ship destination but the funding package given to Eden showed how competitive the market was, and how the Hunter had to work together to promote a united front to the cruise industry.

He said the Channel Berth was the best place for cruise ships to berth and described calls for a terminal at Queens Wharf or Lee Wharf as “a distraction”.

“The Channel Berth is the best from a navigational point of view and as far as the passengers are concerned, it gives them a wider, panoramic view of the city as they enter the port and the vessel ties up,” Mr Creedon said.

“Every visit, about three-quarters of your passengers leave the vessel, which can mean 3000 people getting on and off at a time. And if it’s a home port visit, then there’s food and other stores to move on. I don’t think doing that on the side of Honeysuckle Drive is a good idea, and as far as Tourism Hunter is concerned, that argument is over.” 

The NSW cruise calendar runs from October to April and the privatised Port of Newcastle’s website said yesterday that the schedule for the coming season was “still being finalised”. The Cruisetimetables.com website lists five ships for Newcastle for the coming season but Mr Creedon said he expected about 14 vessels this season and early next season.

The Port of Eden shipping schedule shows dozens of cruise vessels booked until March 2019, with 22 before the end of next year.

A spokesperson for the privatised Port of Newcastle said the upgraded mooring bollards would allow Newcastle to accommodate the bigger, heavier ships entering the Australian market carrying up to 3500 passengers at a time. Construction was expected to take about six months from the end of this year.

Mr Creedon said the upgrade would take Channel Berth out of action while the work went ahead, which would “constrict” the 2016-17 cruise season.

“We in the Hunter have to continually invest or our success in this area will fall away,” Mr Creedon said.

“We listened to the feedback from the cruise lines, which is why we got the bollard funding, and now it would be great if we could get the funding to have a permanent terminal built.”

 “As far as the cruise companies are concerned, the terminal is the crucial thing, whereas for the passengers, it’s the experience that’s important, and as far as the Hunter is concerned, we are performing well above the benchmarks set by the cruise companies, based on their customer feedback surveys.”

“It’s not just Eden, it’s all the other Edens we are continually competing with for this business.”

Port of Eden harbour master Paul Webster said the port had only attracted a handful of ships a year until the 2015-16 season, which had eight, followed by 14 this season and an “even bigger” 2017-18 season.

“A lot of it is down to the wharf project because without it, Eden is limited by the weather, particularly the swell,” Captain Webster said. “One ship had to cancel its visit last season because of the sea conditions.”

Natalie Godward from Cruise Eden says a $44 million funding package for a cruise ship wharf at Snug Cove in Twofold Bay had been put together over a number of years.

Ms Godward said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull toured the site during the election campaign and the work was due to be finished by mid-2018. From her perspective it was not so much “Newcastle versus Eden” but a question of how to meet the demands of an increasingly popular cruise industry.

A spokesperson for the privatised Port of Newcastle said cruise ships added about $11 million a year in economic benefit to the region. The biggest cruise ships have lengths of 360 metres at present and the spokesperson said the Channel Berth accommodated ships of up to 320 metres. Government funding was being sought for a “multipurpose cruise terminal”.

Tourism Hunter chairman Will Creedon said Eden and Newcastle would be level-pegging once the Eden wharf was built. A permanent terminal would again put Newcastle and the Hunter ahead.