Cruise companies have been forced to batten down the hatches and suspend their schedules in recent days due to unprecedented travel restrictions imposed by most countries across the globe. But as coronavirus spreads like wild fire across some cruise ships, it is looking likely that some holidaymakers could be put off the prospect of jumping on a cruise when lockdown is lifted. The future of the travel industry is certainly looking more uncertain now than ever before.
However, the travel expert did suggest that it is likely that people would want to stay closer to home.
She added: “We all have an innate desire to some degree to explore.
“In the immediate future, I think people may go on shorter holidays and stay closer to home when they do travel.”
A recent study from analysts at UBS recently revealed that bookings for 2021 cruises has “gone up nine percent in the last 30 days versus the same time last year”.
UBS said in a report at the end of March: “That includes people applying their future cruise credits from sailings that were cancelled this year, but still shows a surprising resilience in desire to book a cruise.”
According to the report which was published in The New York Post, Asia and Alaska are seeing the highest number of bookings.
Ms Gifford also remains optimistic for the cruise industry despite being “battered” recently, however, she did admit it may take longer for people to get their confidence back.
She continued: “The cruise industry has really been battered though.
“They’ve weathered storms in the past, like norovirus outbreaks, but have always seemed to rebound.
“I think it will take longer to re-instill confidence in cruisers this time.”
However, she added that the airline industry will continue to be a preferable mode of transport after the coronavirus due to its convenience.
She said: “I think it will be tough to keep people from planes. So many of us fly, if only for the speed and convenience.
“I think many more will take road trips in the near term, but not necessarily because they do not want to fly.”
