In an indication that even the always very calm, cool and collected CEO of CLIA Joel Katz is becoming frustrated by the government’s inaction in relation to the resumption of cruising, he told Global Travel Media that he is calling for government action to resume cruising in Australia.
Katz said that internationally, except for in Australia, 550,000 passengers have cruised since cruising restarted last year, which is a major milestone for the industry, but very frustratingly, none sailed from Australia, with Australia now the only major cruise market in the world in which, despite many meetings between the industry and government , o progress has been made towards the resumption of cruising.
Katz added, that while last week’s decision to extend the cruise suspension for another three months was devastating for the cruise industry and its associated industries and sectors, it was sadly not unexpected, but the most frustrating factor of this scenario is that, again despite many meetings between the industry and government over many months, the government still does not have a plan in place for the resumption of cruising.
Katz added that additionally frustrating is that recently before the cruise ban extension announcement, the Federal Minister for Tourism Dan Tehan made encouraging comments in support of cruising, which GTM thinks could have been interpreted by many as suggesting the ban would be lifted on June 17, but sadly that was not going to be the case, with the next review scheduled for September 17.
Katz also said that Tehan’s comments perhaps reflected the campaigning by CLIA and the wider travel and tourism industry, with Australian politicians having already been sent an overwhelming message of support for a resumption of cruising, with 40,000 emails sent to state and federal MPs as part of the Ready, Set, Sail campaign launched last month with the initiative targeting travel agents, industry stakeholders and other members of Australia’s extensive cruise community, urging them to help advocate for cruising’s revival.
Katz said that the government needs to speedily come up with a concrete plan, because without one and the return of cruising, 18,000 Australian jobs are at risk, with Katz saying that Cruise Lines International Association has voiced its alarm at the lack of progress in Australia and is calling on state and federal governments to take real steps forward.
He said, the cruise industry’s new health measures are already in place and working successfully in other countries, so it is time to break the cycle of inaction in Australia and work towards achieving the return of cruising here in Australia.
A report by John Alwyn-Jones. Cruise Editor
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