P&O Offers a Different Way to See Dark Mofo Festival

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Sture Myrmell, P&O Cruises President and Leigh Carmichael, Dark Mofo Creative Director

P&O Cruises has added its first arts festival to its main event line up with the announcement of a dedicated Dark Mofo cruise from Sydney in 2017.

The six-night cruise on Pacific Jewel will depart Sydney on June 13, 2017, and spend an unprecedented three days in Hobart, allowing guests to enjoy the art, food, music, light, film and oddities featured in Tasmania’s annual celebration of the dark.

The cruise includes entry to Tasmania’s iconic Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) as well as the return ferry trip and a priority pass to the event’s spectacular City of Hobart Dark Mofo Winter Feast.

Speaking from Hobart, P&O Cruises President Sture Myrmell said the Dark Mofo cruise was great for local tourism with the three-day visit expected to inject more than $1 million into the economy.

“During Pacific Jewel’s extended stay her 2000 guests will have plenty of time to enjoy all of the zany and wonderful offerings of this unique Tasmanian festival while also exploring Hobart’s sights,” Mr Myrmell said.

“While we already take our guests to iconic Australian events like the Melbourne Cup and Australian Open, this is the first arts event we have added to our schedule. It’s going to be something different and we can’t wait to get onboard with Dark Mofo to offer our guests the opportunity to cruise to one of Australia’s most talked about events.”

Dark Mofo Creative Director Leigh Carmichael said cruising offered avenues for expansion with ships able to carry thousands more people to the event.

“We’re all about trying different things and this cruise will certainly be a unique way for travellers to take in Dark Mofo. We’re delighted to be partnering with an Australian company, which, like us, is trying to revolutionise the way Australians can have enriching and immersive experiences in regional destinations,” Mr Carmichael said.

“Sydney to Hobart is already a well-known seafaring route, and we hope this southern winter sojourn becomes iconic for new reasons.”

The Dark Mofo visit is one of six P&O cruise calls scheduled for Tasmania next year, up from one this year, with the cruise line set to carry an estimated 10,000 holidaymakers to the State in 2017.

For more information visit pocruises.com.au, call 13 24 94 or see a licensed travel agent.
*subject to availability, conditions apply

Note to editors: The region’s largest and longest-serving cruise operator, P&O Cruises Australia leads the way in cruising as Australasia's only 'home brand' and its favourite cruise line. P&O Cruises has been sailing the region for more than 80 years, and has pioneered new destinations around Australia, the Pacific and Asia including Papua New Guinea, as reported in the New York Times’ 52 top destinations for 2015. P&O Cruises is the nation’s largest cruise line with five ships cruising from eight home ports in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. In November 2015 Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden were added to the cruise line’s existing three-ship fleet and in 2017 P&O Cruises will welcome its latest ship – Pacific Explorer. In another milestone, P&O will become the first cruise line to build a ship specifically for the local market, launching a brand new 135,500-tonne ship in 2019 - the biggest cruise ship ever to be based fulltime in Australia.