Christine Cole obituary: Set WA on course for global cruising

Christine Cole was Western Australia’s cruise sector champion through her role as cruise and niche tourism manager at Tourism Western Australia and as secretary of Cruise Western Australia. For the last 14 years of her life she dedicated her energy to building the cruise industry in the State into a highly sought-after global cruise destination.

Christine was born in Coburg, Victoria, to Anthony Dargan and Elvaann McSwan, and when she was two the family moved to South Perth. A trip across the Nullarbor to move back to Melbourne when she was at primary school sowed the seed of travel and adventure which never left her. In Year 11 she left Emmaus College and worked with the Commonwealth Bank, later transferring to Perth. She then headed north to work in the mining industry with the express purpose of saving money for travel.

She then lived and worked in London for several years, using it as a base to travel around Europe. In 1989 she joined Gulf Air, the flag carrier of Bahrain in the Middle East, as a flight attendant, which took her to many parts of the globe and deepened her love for travel.

Christine then moved to Bali and worked for Bali Hai Cruises as cruise director and, later, director of sales and marketing. This was a dream job for her, working with people in the cruise environment. While there she also fundraised tirelessly for an orphanage as she always had a heart for the underprivileged.

In her mid-thirties Christine returned to Perth and began working with Tourism Western Australia, where she stayed for the next 25 years. She worked across several roles before finding what she described as her dream job — cruise and niche tourism manager. It suited Christine perfectly with her love of people, travel, storytelling and showcasing Western Australia to the world.

During her 14 years spent building the cruise industry in Western Australia she travelled all over the State, inspiring communities to embrace the cruise industry and encouraging tour providers to offer passengers authentic regional tours. She initiated the delivery of countless cruise education workshops around the State.

Christine initiated the WA Cruise Exchange, now held annually, which brings together cruise tourism leaders from across the country and around the world to interact with port managers and tour operators. She also established “famils” for cruise leaders where she took them around the State to see for themselves our excellent ports and the regional attractions.

Every year Christine participated in the Australian Cruise Association’s conference, and she was the driver for it being convened in WA three times.

For many years she also represented the State at Seatrade Cruise Global held annually in Miami. Here she was a stand-out among the 12,500 attendees with her passion for promoting WA as one of the “must visit” cruise destinations.

Christine became known all over the world as the ‘Queen of Cruise’ in Western Australia

For the Kimberley she helped secure global brands to deliver expedition cruising and transform the region into a “bucket list” cruise destination. In this she was remarkable and became known all over the world as the “Queen of Cruise” in Western Australia.

Christine had one son, Rhyse, born the day after her 40th birthday. Outside of work Rhyse became her world along with her mother, Elva, and younger sister, Chaslee.

In 2021 Christine was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she faced with courage, determination and positivity. Although over the next five years she was in and out of hospital with multiple health challenges, she never complained and was always buoyed by her close family and strong faith.

Renata Lowe, destination development manager at Tourism WA, worked with Christine for many years and at her funeral she recalled that “Christine had this positive energy, vibrancy and optimism that was so magnetic that people wanted to be around her”.

Anneke Brown, managing director of Tourism WA for the final years of Christine’s work there, said: “Her contribution to the cruise and tourism industry, and to this agency, cannot be overstated.”

This was acknowledged by a tribute to Christine made in Parliament on June 11 by Reece Whitby, then minister for tourism, who said “Christine’s tireless hard work, dedication and passion helped turn our cruise sector into one of the most crucial elements of the WA visitor economy. Her efforts helped draw more ships and ports of calls, and grew the economic impact of West Australian cruise tourism by 229 per cent.”

Christine was an honourable servant of the State and the unashamed champion of our cruise industry. A good and kind person who brought joy to everyone she interacted with, she will be greatly missed.

Christine Cole

Cruise tourism industry champion

Born: Coburg, Victoria, 1964

Died: Perth, aged 62