The cruising industry has been hard-hit by COVID-19, and according to director of strategic development at advisory company BDO, Lee-Anne Bac, it is likely to be the last sector of the tourism industry to recover.
“The confined space of cruise ships is something travellers are going to consider in the post-COVID world. Being on an aircraft is manageable, with travellers having to wear masks for a couple of hours, but cruising is different,” said Lee-Anne.
“Human contact is not so easily escapable on a cruise ship where passengers are usually on board for a week minimum. Will passengers be happy to wear masks on their cruise holidays in the post-COIVD-19 world?”
Indicative of sentiment toward cruise ships in some quarters, is that Seychelles Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marines, Didier Dogley, has announced a ban on cruise ships at Port Victoria for two years, effective immediately.
Quoted in Seychelles Nation, the minister explained that since the COVID-19 pandemic, the government had taken several measures, including financial, to ensure that tourism-related businesses could survive and stay afloat during the pandemic. He said the measures were in line with the WTO.
Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, has, to date, given no indication as to when the ban on passenger vessels in SA ports will be lifted. Presently, only the movement of cargo from sea ports is permitted.
