Influential chef Luke Mangan joins campaign to reopen cruise sector
Luke Mangan has backed a bid to reopen Australia’s cruise sector, ahead of industry leaders lobbying in Canberra on Tuesday.
High-profile Sydney restaurateur Luke Mangan and other tourism industry figures will travel to Canberra on Tuesday in a bid to lobby the federal government over the need for certainty for the country’s cruise industry.
Led by Carnival Australia, one of the country’s largest cruise companies, Mr Mangan and other suppliers will meet parliamentarians to press for a clear path to reopen the $6bn sector.
The group is asking for local cruises to be permitted, in Australian waters, with no international destinations on the horizon.
The industry, which employs about 18,000 Australian workers and once saw an average international guest spend of $387 per day, was brought to a standstill under emergency Covid-19 laws.
MORE:Luke Mangan on why we need to talk how Australia will revive its cruising, tourism industries
On June 10 this year, the laws preventing the entry of cruise vessels within Australian territory as well any outbound international travel were extended for a further three months.
The decision has cut deep into the pockets of the sector. A number of industry players including Silversea, Scenic, Oceania, Seabourn and Cunard have already pulled heavily booked tours over the uncertainty.
Mr Mangan said the “lucrative tap” that is the cruise industry had been turned off and the effects were being felt by travel agents, tour operators, hotels, restaurants, transport operators, live entertainers and musicians.
“Long before the pandemic started the federal and NSW governments had acknowledged the role of Australia’s cruising industry in growing our tourism sector,” he said. “It’s a floating hotel and it sure does create a lot of income for the economy.”
Prior to the pandemic, Mr Mangan ran seven restaurants aboard P&O Cruises Australia, including Luke’s Burger Bar. He was set to open four more.
Today he runs two outlets, Glass at the Hilton Sydney and Luke’s Kitchen, which closed its Waterloo outfit in March and will reopen elsewhere in October.
“The roll-on effect (of shutting down the cruise industry) is too big for the government to ignore,” he said, pointing to The Rocks which pre-pandemic was brimming with international guests arriving at the nearby overseas passenger terminal. “(Today) the Rocks is like a ghost town.”
A Cruise Lines International Association spokesman said several countries were ahead of Australia and had agreed upon plans to reopen their cruise industries.
“We need to map out a clear path forward so we can achieve a carefully managed resumption of domestic cruising in Australia and revive economic opportunities for communities around the country,” he said.
More Coverage
Buying into trouble: PM’s political judgment on a cliff edge
Anthony Albanese has been forced to deny he is contemplating life after politics just months before an election campaign, after paying $4.3m for a clifftop house on the NSW central coast where he will live with future wife Jodie Haydon.
Dutton’s contentious plan to include gas in Capacity Investment Scheme
Peter Dutton’s election commitment to include gas in the CIS has been hailed by the industry and some experts as ‘sensible’ but lashed by Labor and the Greens.