Australia Will Welcome Cruise Ships After Two-year

A two-year restriction on foreign cruise ships departing from Australia will be lifted on April 17, according to government officials who announced the decision on Tuesday. The embargo had been in effect since January 2015.

In accordance with the Australian government, the decision was taken based on medical advice. The nation has been successful in preventing and limiting the entrance, emergence, and spread of Covid-19 in Australian territory, according to the Australian government.

According to Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews, the reintroduction of cruising would provide a boost to the tourist industry, which received more than 600,000 cruise ship passengers in 2019.

Her words: “I can’t wait to see our cruise ports once again thronging with incoming foreign guests, restoring ship-shape to this vital business, and putting it back out on the ocean.”

After working with the government to secure a reopening for cruise ships, CLIA Australia was happy with the news and will now move its attention to working with states that would develop specific standards for reopening their ports.

Managing director of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Joel Katz stated in a video message, “This is the greatest news we’ve gotten in two years, and it’s particularly good for the thousands of Australians who rely on cruising for their livelihood.” Larger cruise ships are expected to return to Australia in the not-too-distant future, he believes, and smaller ships are expected to return even sooner, he believes.

Visitors aboard cruise ships will be obliged to get vaccinated twice, according to guidelines established by Australia’s federal government.

Australia launched a return-to-tourism strategy in February, reopening its airports to overseas passengers who have been inoculated against the Zika virus.

Australia, on the other hand, excluded cruise ships from the ban and prolonged it until April due to worries about the omicron version and a surge of Covid-19 cases. The cruise sector, which was keen to begin operations as soon as possible, was disappointed by the delays.