More than 40 cruise ships have cancelled their sailings to Guernsey as visits are suspended until 20 May.
Cruise visitors contributed around £4 million to Guernsey’s economy in 2019 – revenue the island will now miss out on as travel restrictions, imposed in response to the outbreak of Covid-19, continue to force operators to cancel sailings.
Guernsey’s first ship was due to arrive on 20 March and although all cruise ship calls have been cancelled until 20 May, some operators have suspended operations as far ahead as 19 July.
It does not look likely Guernsey will be welcoming visitors any time soon. Borders are unlikely to open before the final phase of the island’s lockdown exit strategy, known as phase four. The island is currently in phase two.
‘From our perspective we have to look at what’s going on around us,’ said Guernsey’s Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink.
‘We’ve been very very good at squashing the curve and that’s really a credit to the Guernsey population that we’ve been as effective as we have. But to open up our borders and then just re-import cases back in makes absolutely no sense at all, because we’ve been through a lot of hardship to get where we are.’