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Immigration dispute halts New Zealand cruise restart
The restart of cruise operations in New Zealand has hit choppy waters.
Ponant’s Le Laperouse ship was cleared to sail domestic itineraries but Immigration New Zealand has sunk that plan at the very last minute.
It has denied entry for many of the ship’s crew whose job roles it says can be performed by Kiwis.
Le Laperouse is currently in limbo off New Zealand waters and was scheduled to begin sailing on 8 February.
Immigration New Zealand’s decision has been slammed the New Zealand Cruise Association.
It blames a lack of coordination between government departments.
"It is a case of one Ministry giving and another taking away. Government departments must begin to talk to each other, not take separate action which once again greatly harms the tourism industry," said NZCA Chief Executive Officer Kevin O’Sullivan.
"The Minister of Immigration has tried to paint the decision as the fault of Ponant for not following procedure, but it is not so. (Ponant) did everything that was requested by the New Zealand Government in order to offer safe domestic cruising in New Zealand."
The Ministry of Health last month granted an exemption for Ponant to restart cruises in New Zealand for NZ residents.
New Zealand’s Minister of Immigration Kris Faafoi said at a press conference that approval for Ponant was conditional on obtaining the necessary visas.
The ministry said it denied 61 visa applications for crew members deemed non-essential.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor
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TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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