Luxury cruise has been celebrated as a powerhouse of the reenergised travel industry, with Australia’s cruise community turning out in force for the Signature Luxury Travel & Style Luxury Cruise Awards 2024.
Opening the event, Signature Media’s CEO and Group Editor Cathy Wagstaff applauded the industry for its focus on innovation, sustainability and protecting the oceans as it continues to grow.
“With a much smaller population than China, the UK and the US, Australia is now the sixth largest market in the world for luxury travellers with cruise leading the way,” she said. “34.5 million passengers globally are expected to cruise this year – and projected to reach 40 million by 2027 – and there is huge growth predicted for new-to cruise.”
Virtuoso was the major sponsor of the event, with the luxury travel network’s General Manager AU/NZ Greg Treasure taking to the stage to reflect on the key role cruise had played in the overall picture for the luxury network since the pre-pandemic days of 2019. In that time Virtuoso has seen growth of 216% across all segments.
“That compares to an industry average of about 126%,” Treasure revealed. “There’s absolutely no question that luxury cruise is at the heart of that growth and has become such a an integral part of the health and wellbeing of the whole luxury travel ecosystem.
“And it is no surprise when you continue to look at the elevation and quality with ocean cruising, the ever-increasing popularity of river cruising, and the opening up of new frontiers with expedition ships.”
The awards ceremony, held at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art and MC’d by TV and radio personality Andrew Daddo, saw close to 100 representatives from the cruise industry gather to celebrate the sector’s achievements over the last year.
CLIA Australasia Managing Director Joel Katz presented the keynote speech highlighting the “evolution of luxury cruising” (see more in tomorrow’s LATTE) whileLATTE Managing Editor Guy Dundas acknowledged the major strides made in the crucial area of sustainability.
It is the sixth iteration of the annual Luxury Cruise Awards, with judging carried out by a panel of 20 leading luxury cruise experts and travel advisors.
The lunchtime event honoured winners across 13 key categories, with second and third runner-ups also recognised.
The most anticipated cruise ships of 2025 were also pondered by the panel of esteemed luxury cruise experts who highlighted Four Seasons Yachts’ Four Seasons 1, Crystal’s yet-to-be-named new ocean ships and Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Prestige as ones to watch.The full list of 2024 winners were:
