Chefs and Food Suppliers Join #WeAreCruise Campaign

Food and produce suppliers have become the latest businesses to join CLIA Australasia’s #WeAreCruise campaign, helping to raise awareness of the enormous economic contribution of cruise tourism.

In a new series of videos released online, people who help supply ships with fine food and beverages explain how important the cruise industry is to the local economy and provide their personal insight into the impact of the region’s ongoing cruise suspension.

Among them is Sam Burke, Corporate Chef for representative body Meat & Livestock Australia, who joins P&O Cruises Australia Corporate Executive Chef Uwe Stiefel to explain the impact on the region’s meat industry.

In a video available on Facebook and YouTube, Mr. Burke says as much as 2.5 tons of Australian red meat is ordinarily purchased for a three-day cruise.

“As you can imagine, that’s a significant volume for the industry,” Mr. Burke said. “We’re all waiting in anticipation for the cruise ships to return, because that will drive more volume through those channels and then assist the economy.”

Mr. Stiefel highlighted the losses being suffered by while cruise tourism was on hold.

“We use anything from 1,000 to 1,500 tons of red meat annually. They’re massive volumes, and everything is locally grown and locally made. Many of the farmers, manufacturers and producers have lost a lot of their business.”

Other videos tell the stories of suppliers including Select Fresh Providores Group General Manager Steven Biviano, whose company works with local farmers to supply fresh fruit and vegetables to cruise ships, and Kollaras & Co Managing Director John Kollaras, whose family-owned company provides beverages including beers and wines from across Australia and New Zealand.

CLIA Australasia Managing Director Joel Katz said many Australian and New Zealand businesses had been devastated by the suspension of cruise operations and were voicing their support for a carefully planned revival through the #WeAreCruise video series.

“Cruising ordinarily contributes more than A$5 billion a year to the economies of Australia and New controlled resumption of domestic cruising in the region.

Though cruising is still subject to government suspensions in the region, Mr. Katz said initiatives like the cruise industry’s commitment to 100% COVID-19 testing for all passengers and crew were part of a multi-layered approach that would uphold safety when cruise operations resumed.

“The people in our #WeAreCruise

Zealand, and supports more than 25,000 jobs across the region,” Mr. Katz said. “These jobs are all at risk, so it’s vital that we plan a pathway towards resumption with extensive health measures in place, so that we can restore economic opportunities to communities around our coasts.”

Mr. Katz said low levels of COVID19 in Australia and New Zealand, together with the extensive new health protocols introduced globally by CLIA cruise lines, presented an opportunity for a carefully videos are just some of the tens of thousands of personal stories behind the current cruise suspension,” Mr. Katz said. “Cruise lines spend hundreds of millions of dollars in Australasia, and the health protocols our industry has developed can help restore this economic contribution for businesses and communities right across this region.”

The videos appear on CLIA Australasia’s Facebook and YouTube channels.