Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia welcomes the conditional approval granted to Ponant to operate its small expedition vessel Le Lapérouse in New Zealand from February 2021.
CLIA Managing Director Australasia Joel Katz said the domestic operations Ponant planned in New Zealand were an example of the carefully controlled regional approach CLIA has proposed for the resumption of restricted cruise operations in New Zealand and Australia.
“Cruise lines have developed extensive new health protocols in response to COVID-19 that go well beyond the measures of almost any other area of the travel industry,” Mr Katz said. “By creating bubble itineraries for New Zealanders only, operating exclusively within New Zealand, we see an opportunity to help revive the tourism economy while at the same time offering protective protocols against outside infection.”
CLIA has outlined extensive new health protocols to governments in New Zealand and Australia as part of a global response to COVID-19 by the cruise industry.
“Such measures have already allowed limited cruise operations to resume in other regions including Europe and Asia,” Mr Katz said. “CLIA will continue to work closely with governments in Australasia to establish a responsible pathway towards resumption that will uphold safety while also helping to revive an industry worth more than $5 billion a year our region’s economy.”
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