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Keen cruisers, struggling travel agencies, and thousands of producers and tour operators earning income from the Australian cruise industry continue to navigate the rough waters.
The ship Queen Elizabeth of the luxury cruise company Cunard was originally scheduled to dock in Australian waters for four months. Just cancelled their entire season, Which also includes two world cruises.
“Sadly, the road to return to international waters is not clear. We are very sorry that canceling the flight will bring great disappointment to all affected guests,” said Simon Paraisopp, President of Cunda.
The ultra-luxury cruise brand Seabourn followed closely, announcing that Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation will not sail in Australia in the upcoming spring and summer due to continued travel restrictions in the area. It is likely that others will follow suit soon.
“The cancellations we have seen in Australia indicate that the entire tourism industry is currently facing uncertainty,” said Joel Katz, managing director of the International Cruise Line Association (CLIA) Australasia.
“Our government lacks any clear plans for the future, which means that all cruise companies are facing difficult decisions, which are very difficult for the tourist public.”
Sadly, the path to return to international waters is not clear.
Currently, cruises have been banned until September 17, but more and more cruise companies may lose confidence that ships flying foreign flags will be approved in the upcoming Australian cruise season (traditionally starting in October).
Although some cruise companies have announced their cancellations, the industry is still very focused on establishing a responsible framework for Australia’s future operations and has formulated a wide range of new health agreements. If there is any kind of cruise season in the summer, now is the time to make an action plan.
Last week, representatives of hundreds of Australian companies and individuals who depend on cruises for their livelihoods went to Canberra to seek the support of Federal Parliamentarians to find ways to resume domestic cruises in Australia. Cruise usually supports more than 18,000 jobs in Australia.
“We believe that Australia has the opportunity to bring cruising into our domestic bubble and only provide local itineraries for Australians. We call on the government to help achieve this goal as soon as possible,” Joel Katz said.
At the same time, overseas, the cruise is back. Extensive new sanitation measures allow strict controls to resume cruises in Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. In the near future, further voyages will be planned in locations including the United States and Hong Kong.
“More than 550,000 guests have successfully sailed hundreds of times under strict new health agreements. The success of these health agreements in other countries shows the way forward for responsibly resuming domestic cruises in Australia,” Katz said.
Sun deck on APT’Caledonian Sky’
The cruise ship is in Kimberley. Image source: APT
So, what does the federal government need to agree to a plan to resume cruises?
Dan Tehan, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Investment, said: “The government will continue to negotiate with states and territories and the maritime industry to resume cruise options in phases if medical advice shows that it is safe to do so.”
According to CLIA, its cruise line members and those who rely on cruise ships for their livelihoods (especially if there is no JobKeeper now), now need to agree on a way back to the cruise ship.
“Working out a resumption plan starts with a promise to deliver. We need the state and federal governments to negotiate with the industry and develop solutions,” said Dan Russell, general manager of travel agencies CleanCruising.com.au
Russell believes that a real game changer is just around the corner.
“As part of the recovery plan, it may only be a matter of time before the local cruise operator adopts a vaccinated passenger policy and vaccinated crew,” he said.
“It completely changes the risk profile, and we hope that the state and federal authorities will be very beneficial to this. We need a circuit breaker because we have no time at all.”
According to Joel Katz, the health agreements promised by cruise lines worldwide are the most stringent in the tourism industry and go far beyond the measures we see in daily life on land.
“We hope to have the opportunity to discuss these measures in more detail with our government and health authorities so that we can agree on ways to implement these measures responsibly in Australia.”
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