Napier (New Zealand)

Napier is a port city in New Zealand, located in Hawke's Bay (on North Island's eastern coast, approx 18 km / 11 mi south of Hastings). The city has population around 62,000. Napier is located approx 320 km (200 mi) northeast of Wellington. 

The city is close to both the island's main airport and the seaport serving Hawke's Bay. 

The Napier-Hastings urban area is called "The Twin Cities" and "The Bay Cities". Their total population is around 130,000, ranking them NZ's 5th-largest urban area. By population, Napier-Hastings is followed by Tauranga and Dunedin.

Napier NZ is a renowned tourist city, featuring Art Deco architecture. It also has one of NZ's most photographed tourist attractions - the statue named "Pania of the Reef". Manu thousands of tourists flock every February for the Tremains Art Deco Weekend. Other notable themed events are "Food and Wine Classic" and "Mission Estate Concert" (wine-themed).

Port Napier NZ

Port Napier serves the world's largest wool center and this is northeastern NZ's primary export seaport.

The region is NZ's major producer of stone fruit, apples and pears. This is also an important grape and wine production area.

Large amounts of frozen meat, wood pulp, sheep wool and timber also pass through Port Napier. Smaller amounts are shipped via roads and railways to NZ's largest metro areas - Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington.

The seaport supports local businesses with estimated around 27,000 local jobs (Hawke Bay).

In early-November 2018, Port Napier announced plans for building a new wharf (second) on the containership terminal, plus dredging. The new "Building 6 Wharf" (completed in 2023) increased the Port's cargo capacity as both vessel numbers and tonnage.

During season 2015-2016, the cruise port handled 45 ship visits. Cruise companies usually book their port schedules 2-3 years in advance.

During season 2016-2017, the port handled 55 cruise ships, with economic impact on Hawke Bay region ~USD 20 million. The annual number of visiting cruise tourists is between 80,000-100,000. They spend on average 4 to 10 hours ashore.

For season 2018-2019, the cruise port had booked a total of 72 ship calls with estimated ~125,000 passengers plus ~50,000 crew. Among season's highlights was the maiden call of Majestic Princess (October 21, 2018). This was the Port's second-largest passenger ship ever - after Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas. Majestic Princess (capacity 4300 passengers) had scheduled 5 calls at Napier. Ovation OTS (capacity 4800 passengers) was booked for 6 visits.

Season 2023-2024 (November-April) was Port Napier's record-breaking, with scheduled 92 cruise ship calls and estimated ~130,000 passengers.

Napier cruise terminal