Cruise chiefs have written to the government to stress the importance of developing a plan for the restart of operations, including the removal of the Foreign Office ban on ocean cruising.

Cruise Trade News has seen extracts of the letter, sent to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, which said that the restart of cruises would take up to three months and therefore the industry needed concrete steps to plan ahead and begin to take bookings for 2021.

The UK Chamber of Shipping and CLIA also stated that rescinding current Foreign Office advice against cruise ship travel would be a huge boost for the industry and customer confidence. “This would have no practical impact on cruise activity in the short term as it takes at least 12 weeks for cruise lines to restart operations,” the letter said.

The letter added that the industry takes up to 35 per cent of advance bookings during the December-January wave period, again reinforcing the need for a restart timeline.

The shutdown of the industry has to date cost the UK economy nearly £7 billion, according to the letter, with a loss of approximately 52,000 jobs.

The Chamber of Shipping and CLIA released a framework in October that outlined plans to restart operations.

Late last year, the government’s Global Travel Taskforce report said it “may be appropriate to resume cruises when the national alert level is at level 3 and when a move to level 2 is being considered by the Chief Medical Officer”.

CLIA UK & Ireland director Andy Harmer said: “While government understands the importance of getting the industry sailing again, they must now set a timeline for a phased resumption of operations.

“For several months, the industry has worked collaboratively with government to agree health protocols that go beyond any other travel sector operating today.

“Our hope is that the government will recognise our uncompromising commitment to public health and act now to help protect the tens of thousands of jobs that depend on a successful UK cruise industry.”