The “heavy-handed approach” of immigration checks on cruise passengers onboard vessels calling at British ports is harming the cruise industry, CruiseBritain has warned.
The organisation, a joint initiative between industry, the Passenger Shipping Association and VisitBritain, said that although it was not disputing the right of the Home Office to conduct immigration checks, it was questioning its approach “in the light of the extremely low risk posed by cruise passengers”.
Over the 2012 cruise season, low-risk day visitors to British ports were increasingly subject to full face-to-face checks that can take up a significant proportion of a half or full-day call, said CruiseBritain following its steering committee meeting earlier this month.
Passengers previously cleared without a physical check now have to queue with their passports or identity cards to be cleared face-to-face by the UK Border Force, said CruiseBritain. This applies to all non-British passengers, whether or not they intend to go ashore, with early-morning queues lasting up to 90 minutes.
CruiseBritain said that following a meeting between the Home Office Border Policy Unit, CruiseBritain, the Passenger Shipping Association and other industry bodies, it was understood that every cruise tourist will have to undergo these checks in 2013 if the ship stops at a UK port.
Kate O’Hara, chairman of CruiseBritain, told Travel Weekly: “We cannot underestimate the threat that this policy implementation poses to the growing and profitable UK cruise market.
“Ships are the ultimate moveable asset and cruise lines will simply move their assets to a more welcoming and cost-effective market.
“At a time when the British cruise industry is facing other major issues such as sulphur emission control areas and Lights Dues, this comes as another major blow to the growth curve.”
The average 2,000-passenger cruise ship brings £160,000 in revenue to the local economy, said CruiseBritain.
The organisation is advocating a more streamlined system, where cruise lines’ port agents send passenger manifests ahead to each port as standard operating procedure, and border officials can then ask to see anyone they wish to.
“This procedure has worked extremely well in the past and we would wish to see this reinstated as a matter of policy,” it added.