European river cruises are gearing up to resume in late May, but they’ll mostly be doing local itineraries for local residents only, a river cruise trade association forecasts.

Cross-border cruises are not expected to start until July or August, and even then they’ll likely be open to Europeans only, due to continued travel restrictions within Europe and internationally. That was the consensus of members of River Cruise Europe, who met online in a virtual gathering arranged by cruise industry association Seatrade. The European trade group originally formed in 2019 due to a boom in river cruising, but it’s seen most river ships tied up for a full year.

Read it all in The Cruisington Times