Big day for cruising but is the resumption of cruising any closer?

Friday was a big day for cruising in Australia, not only with CLIA holding its 2021 Cruise Forum online, in place of the previously planned Cruise360 gathering, which was postponed due to COVID, but also CLIA releasing its plan for the resumption of cruising, and also Sture Myrmell President, Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises’ making a very surprising announcement.

Global Travel Media applauds and thanks Joel Katz and the team at CLIA for arranging the Forum, with the three Forum sessions spread throughout the day, and while very interesting, the sessions sadly felt rather anticlimactic and disappointing as it was clear that no progress has been made by the government to restart cruising.

While what the panellists said was interesting, and it was great to see and hear them, but they did not really tell anyone plugged into cruising, anything they probably did not already know, or most importantly and I imagine what the audience was waiting to hear, was something concrete about the restarting of cruising in Australia, which did not happen.

I appreciate that perhaps many of the audience, which was restricted to all types of CLIA members,
may not be fully informed about what is going on regarding the restart of cruising in Australia, or actually more precisely from what the panellists said, what has not been going on and is not going on.

For me, that was the biggest surprise and disappointment in that Joel Katz’s recent statement, which really reflected his frustration, when he said that the government had made no progress towards the resumption of cruising, was very disappointingly indeed, confirmed in full at the Forum.

The Opening State of the Industry panel was moderated by Cruise Weekly’s Bruce Piper and featured CLIA Global President & CEO, Kelly Craighead; Royal Caribbean MD & CLIA Australasia Chair, Gavin Smith [pictured]; Carnival Australia President Sture Myrmell; Ponant Chair APAC Sarina Bratton [pictured]; and Norwegian Cruise Line VP APAC Ben Angell, was very interesting, enthusing and motivating, but also did not really tell me much about the State of the Industry that we did not already know.

What it did reveal was that despite some of the panellists having clearly worked very hard in having discussions with the government and attending panels, workshops and other meetings with the government, which I am sure we all very much appreciate, no detail of those discussions was revealed, and it sadly became very clear again that no progress has been made over the last many months.

There was also a glaring omission or even omissions from that panel and the Forum overall, in that there was no representation of the Federal or even State Governments, with by the way the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, The Hon Dan Tehan on Friday attending another online event as a panellist organised by the Australian Tourism Export Council.

Maybe that tells us something about the Government’s view or understanding of cruising, which could be seen as further exemplified in a comment by the panel, that Minister Tehan in a recent discussion had not realised that it took months to get a cruise ship back in service.

The other Forum sessions included panels on Rebuilding Confidence, Achieving New Relevance as a Cruise Specialist Travel Agent, and The Critical Partnerships Supporting Restart Success.

The panellists in the final session highlighted and gave advice from other countries, in particular, the UK and Singapore about what we should be doing in Australia to restart cruising when many including me thought that process was well underway, but clearly, it is not, with the blame for the lack of any progress, clearly appearing to lay at the feet of the Federal Government.

In the meantime, as a demonstration of that lack of progress by the Government, in what appears to be a strong degree of frustration with the Government, although as Gavin Smith CLIA Chair said of the relationship with the government as “respectful”, CLIA on Friday unveiled its four-phase pathway for the resumption of cruising in Australia aligning the stages presented by PM Scott Morrison and based on vaccination targets with key milestones as borders reopen.

The key phases in the CLIA pathway are:

1. The Current Phase (Vaccinate, prepare and pilot) – Agreement between governments and the cruise industry on a framework for cruising’s resumption and the implementation of the industry’s layered health protocols including testing and vaccination, with the potential to pilot small domestic expedition cruises as health conditions allow.
2. The Vaccination Transition Phase (70% of the adult population vaccinated) – Resume limited domestic-only cruises within an Australian bubble, in line with the industry’s extensive health protocols.
3. The Consolidation Phase (80% of the adult population vaccinated) – Achieve more extensive domestic sailings and begin carefully controlled trans-Tasman itineraries and other regional “bubble” sailings when conditions allow, with ongoing health protocols in place.
4. The Post Vaccination Phase – Resume carefully controlled international itineraries from Australian ports with ongoing health protocols in place.

CLIA Managing Director Australasia Joel Katz told Global Travel Media, “The pathway will help provide certainty for the more than 18,000 Australians whose jobs are reliant on cruising”, adding, “This is about having plans agreed in advance so that we’re ready as conditions improve with the rising vaccination rate,” and “Our governments have created a four-phase plan to reopen Australia, and we’re now calling for our own four-phase pathway to be included in this process.”

He also said that the current phase envisions an agreement between industry and governments on a framework for resumption, instead of the current blanket ban on international ships, which at this stage is in place until 17 September.

Katz said, “Once 70% of the country’s adult population is vaccinated, the “Vaccination Transition Phase” would commence, with the resumption of limited domestic-only cruises within an Australian bubble, in line with the industry’s extensive health protocols”.

He added, “The 80% vaccination stage or “Consolidation Phase”, associated with the significant easing of restrictions in the National Cabinet-approved plan would see more extensive domestic sailings and the commencement of carefully controlled trans-Tasman itineraries and regional “bubble” sailings when conditions permit.”

He also said, “The final “Post-Vaccination Phase” would allow for the resumption of carefully controlled international itineraries from Australian ports.”

CLIA needs to be recognised for its excellent work, but the frustration appears to be bubbling, with cruise icon Sarina Bratton’s frustration exemplified by her comment during the Forum that if things don’t progess, “we will be taking to the streets”!

The major challenge with the CLIA plan is that it appears that none of this has been discussed with the Federal Government yet, so whether the Government will accept or agree with the CLIA plan is as yet to be seen.

In the meantime, as covered in another article on Global Travel Media today, following on from the cruise line’s observation of sentiment from its guests and the communities it visits, Carnival Corporation and P&O President Sture Myrmell revealed that P&O Cruises Australia will require COVID-19 vaccination for passengers and crew in Australia upon its return to cruising.

Myrmell said the policy is solely a P&O Australia decision right now, but that each Carnival brand would make its own announcement in due course.

Meg Koffel, PR Director Asia Pacific told Global Travel Media, “Our research tells us 90% of our guests are already vaccinated or plan to be”, adding, “We plan to finalise and publish all our operational protocols once the government framework for a local restart is announced.”  Carnival Cruise Line has not yet responded to our request for their vaccination policy.

CLIA told Global Travel Media that there have been no agreements on the points raised and further discussions will need to take place with governments”, adding, “The four-phase proposal has been put to govt this week and further discussions are sought”.

CLIA Managing Director Australasia Joel Katz, said “Specific vaccination requirements are one of the key areas we need to discuss with Australian governments”, adding, “CLIA is urging Australian governments to work with industry to finalise a framework for cruise resumption, including the detailed protocols that will support it”

He added, The cruise industry has committed to extensive new health protocols globally and these cover many areas across many layers”, adding, Together these measures are among the most stringent to be found anywhere in tourism, but we need an opportunity to discuss them in detail with Australian health authorities.”

He also said, “Agreeing on specific vaccination requirements will be a key part of this, so we’re calling on governments to engage with the cruise industry and work towards a responsible plan for future operations.”

A report by John Alwyn-Jones, Cruise Editor Global Travel Media and Global Cruise News.