The meeting’s title was an intriguing bit of click bait: Will big ship cruising ever return to Alaska and Canada?

Because of the covid cruise ban, it’s been a dismal year for the hospitality industry in Vancouver and an almost total loss for tiny outports of Alaska that depend on cruise visitors for up to 95 per cent of their annual revenue. And 2021 will be a make or break year for many tour operators, shops and restaurants, panelists said during a session at the cruise industry’s virtual Seatrade Cruise Global conference.

The answer to the question of whether cruising will return is absolutely yes, said moderator, Steve Hites of the Skagway Street Car Co. But the panelists said a lot of planning and co-operation will be needed ahead of the planned resumption of sailing to Alaska in April, 2021.

Read it all in The Cruisington Times