JOEL Katz, Managing Director CLIA Australasia
Cruising’s four-phase plan for revival
Now that Australia has a four-phase plan for reopening, CLIA has outlined its own four-phase pathway for a careful resumption of cruising.
Proposed to align with the national plans to revive tourism and reopen borders, the cruise pathway sets out its own key milestones and is tied to the same vaccination targets as those announced recently by the Federal Government.
As an industry, we have urged Australian governments to include our pathway in the national four-phase plan, and are calling for detailed discussions to make this happen.
Key goals include:
- 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 potential to pilot domestic expedition cruises.
- Vaccination Transition Phase (~70% of adult population vaccinated) — Resume limited domestic-only cruises within an Australian bubble, in line with the industry’s extensive health protocols.
- Consolidation Phase (80% of adult population vaccinated) — Achieve more domestic sailings and begin carefully controlled trans-Tasman itineraries and other regional “bubble” sailings when conditions allow.
- Post Vaccination Phase — Resume carefully controlled international itineraries from Australian ports with ongoing health protocols in place.
Meeting these steps should be highly achievable. The cruise industry’s extensive new health protocols are already in place and working in other countries.
Australia is the only major cruise market in the world where governments have yet to achieve progress on cruising’s resumption. We need governments to act now so that we can revive an industry worth more than $5 billion a year to the Australian economy.
