Cruising Resuming Around the World

After 15 months of suspended passenger operations, the first ships have finally sailed out of U.S. ports, with more sailings scheduled for the months ahead. This is a truly remarkable achievement and would not have been possible without the entire cruise community mobilizing to help advance the responsible resumption of U.S. cruise operations.

For CLIA, as the trade association representing the global cruise industry – from individual cruise lines to suppliers, travel agents, ports and destinations – advancing the responsible resumption of cruise operations around the world remains their top priority. More than half a million passengers have sailed since last summer, with protocols that have proven effective even before vaccines became widely available. Still, much work remains to reach pre-pandemic levels and help the industry accommodate the demand of nearly 30 million travelers who cruised in 2019.

Public health and safety will remain at the forefront of all that we do. Together with our members, CLIA will continue to engage world-class experts who are helping to guide the return of cruising in Europe, Asia and, most recently, in the United States, where we successfully leveraged the collective voice of the U.S. cruise community to help facilitate a restart of operations. However, cruising remains idle in places such as Canada, Australia, and South America. We look forward to continuing discussions with local governments in these markets to establish a path to resumption, which will put people back to work, contribute to the ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic, and provide one of the best ways to see the world.

At the same time, CLIA remains focused on identifying new opportunities for the industry to lead the way in the areas of environmental sustainability, public health and safety, destination stewardship, workforce development, and economic impact. The cruise industry has invested $23.5 billion in ships with new technologies and cleaner fuels, and we remain committed to the International Maritime Organization’s target of a zero-carbon future. As we work to strengthen our partnerships in local communities and invest in R&D, we look forward to continuing to work with leaders at the local, national, and international level to create a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous future for the whole of the cruise community, which includes hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that rely on cruise tourism.