Canada’s addition to the UK government’s green list could help drive forward cruise-and-fly bookings through the autumn, according to cruise-selling agents.
Last week, seven countries including Canada switched onto the green list, meaning travellers must take a Covid-19 test within three days before returning to England and another test on or before day two after arriving.
Alison Earnshaw, managing director of Cruise118 parent World Travel Holdings, believes that the inclusion of Canada on to the green list will encourage cruise bookings to the “bucket list” destination.
Earnshaw said: “Demand for Alaska cruises with the usual land inclusions such as Vancouver stays and Rocky Mountaineer trips have been very popular all year, some dates have limited availability for 2022 already so we’re booking into 2023 as well.
“This is in keeping with the high demand we’ve seen for other ‘bucket list’ destinations and itineraries. I’d expect the change in recent travel advice for Canada to further boost this trend.”
Canada will welcome back cruise ships to its waters from November 1 when it lifts a ban on cruise vessels that has been in place since February 4 last year.
It effectively means that cruises will not return to Canadian ports of call until spring next year when next year’s Alaska and Atlantic Canada seasons start.
Under US law, foreign-flagged vessels sailing from Washington state to popular cruise destination Alaska are obliged to make a Canadian stop.
James Cole, founder and managing director of Panache Cruises, admitted Canada cruise bookings had before rising before the latest traffic light announcement and added that he expected this trend to continue.
He said: “News of Canada opening up is very welcome. It’s a popular destination for many cruisers as there is so much to do there on land and on sea.
“We haven’t seen a significant increase in enquiries to Canada since the announcement, but generally bookings have risen during August, and we believe that this will continue as we move forward into autumn.”
However, Dave Mills, Iglu’s vice president and global supply director, added that it is “very rare” for booking levels to be sky-high immediately after a country is given green-list status.
Mills explained: “The rules changes and you start seeing interest and then people book. So far we’ve not seen any [Canada cruise] bookings because there’s a lot of uncertainty.
“Despite the fact we’ve changed the content on the site, people are still calling up for reassurance.
“We’ll have web pages with the insurance and testing requirements for a destination, but customers still need to be reassured.”