Liverpool is set to have its first international visit from a cruise ship since the start of the pandemic next month.
It will mark a major step for the reopening of the city’s travel industry and comes as cruise visits to the city continue to bounce back rapidly after being halted completely for more than a year.
Among the first international arrivals to Liverpool will be Viking Cruises’ Viking Sky, which will arrive in the city on September 4 from Reykjavik.
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It will stop in the city for a day before going on going on to Barcelona via Dublin, A Coruna, Porto, Lisbon, Granada and Valencia.
The council’s Angie Redhead confirmed to members of the culture and tourism select committee that preparations are underway for the first international arrivals and said the council would follow all protocols to ensure it happened safely.
Ms Redhead said: “We have a ship coming in in September with international passengers on board.
“Whether they go ashore or not has not been decided but anything that does happen will happen with the sign off of public health and port health.”
She added that regulations do now allow double jabbed UK passengers to disembark ships to visit cities, though most cruise lines are not yet allowing this.
Cruise stops to Liverpool have come back quickly after the pandemic, with more than 100 calls scheduled for 2021.
The rebound looks set to continue into next year with the city having 103 cruise calls confirmed for 2022 at this early stage.
However, a council report warns it is likely to take two years for the industry to recover and that timetable is vulnerable to other developments within the pandemic.
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