Mid West city finalist for prestigious cruise-tourism award

Geraldton has been named one of three finalists for the prestigious title of Destination of the Year in the 2018 Seatrade Cruise Awards.

The 12th annual awards recognise success stories in the cruise industry from ports, innovative shore excursions and outstanding service to the industry.

Geraldton will go up against Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Eidfjord, Norway, in the Destination of the Year category, which is awarded to a region, tourism body or association that has worked hard to promote cruise-tourism over the past 12 months.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said with a busy cruise ship calendar, it was no surprise the city had been named a finalist.

“Geraldton has become a very popular destination in Australia for cruise ships to stop,” he said.

In February alone we had a total of five ships visit our City – four of them had never visited before.

“Geraldton has really promoted itself as a destination of choice and we’ve worked hard to foster relationships to ensure we’re on the radar.”

Mr Van Styn said, in a first for the city, Geraldton will host a cruise ship on an over-night stay in December.

The award winners will be announced on September 19 in Lisbon, Portugal.