The cruise industry has been making optimistic noises about resuming - but one Indian Ocean island nation has just banned all cruise ships until 2022.
The Seychelles has announced it is banning all cruise ships for nearly two years, The Nation newspaper reported.
Seychelles tourism minister Didier Dogley announced the ban to minimise any chance of a second wave of Covid-19.
The banning of calls at Port Victoria (above) on Mahe Island is effective immediately until the end of 2021.
Although the Seychelles has not been hard hit by infections, global travel restrictions have heavily impacted tourism.
The government has taken measures to ease the financial burden on tourism businesses including a salary guarantee until June, soft loans and tax deferrals.
In March, the Seychelles Ports Authority temporarily closed the cruise season early due to the pandemic. MSC, Crystal, Seabourn and Norwegian are among the cruise lines scheduled to dock in Port Victoria in 2021.
The Seychelles has recorded 11 cases of Covid-19 with no deaths.
No comments:
Post a Comment