The Cruise line industry has suffered another crushing blow today with travel bans being extended.

Government and public health authorities have still yet to come to an agreement as to when cruising can return in Australian waters, thus causing P&O and Carnival Cruises to cancel voyages through to the end of April.

Western Sydney Travel Agency Owner Belle Goldie is pleading with the Government to let tourists in or provide financial help.

She told Jim Wilson, “Today is a devastating blow for us and cruise passengers”.

“We need support, we need financial support now.”

Belle believes that the Australian government is getting in the way of cruise travel due to the constant updating of COVID protocols.

“We are the forgotten industry at the moment and we won’t forget that come election time.”

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John Hart from the Australian Chamber of Commerce  also had his say with 2GB Drive host Jim Wilson.

Mr Hart is calling on the government to allow fully vaccinated tourists into the country amid the extension of the recent cruising ban.

With small business struggling and tourism in Australia at an all time low, John Hart has told Jim Wilson, “We need to have our borders open”.

Cruising also needs to come back as soon as possible says Mr Hart, “We need to remove that ban on cruises, they operate incredibly safely now and have put in place mitigations”.

“There really is no reason why we need to have a ban on ships coming to this country.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview