A group of cruise industry suppliers expressed bitter disappointment that another month has passed without any progress on ending the current cruise ban.
19 Jul 2021
The Australian cruise community is calling on the government to follow Canada’s example by bringing forward the end of its cruise suspension.
On Thursday, the Canadian government said it would end its suspension on cruising early, giving a new date of 19 November 2021.
The country joins the US, the UK, Europe and parts of Asia where cruising has already resumed under stringent new health protocols and testing regimes.
Joel Kats, managing director for Australasia at the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), said Canada’s announcement highlighted the lack of progress in Australia.
“Like Australia, Canada has taken a very conservative and risk-averse approach to cruising, but they’ve worked hard with industry to develop a detailed pathway towards resumption and economic recovery,” he said.
15 Jul 2021
Federal MP Warren Entsch is calling for the government to set a date for the resumption of cruising to help revive regional businesses.
Entsch, the coalition MP for Leichhardt, told
ABC News the cruise industry has learned a lot about COVID-19 safety and believes measures can be put in place for a safe resumption.
“It’s all about density … passenger density, training the crew and the way food is served a whole raft of things that can be done,” he said.
“We have a lot of Australian businesses that are 100 per cent reliant on it.
“There are protocols in place and they do it exceptionally well.”
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