Just over one million people have taken a cruise since the restart of operations in the summer of last year, while in the UK the restart has also been encouraging.

Ben Bouldin, Chair, CLIA UK & Ireland, said in a statement: “The cruise industry has worked incredibly hard together with government during the last eighteen months to resume operations responsibly. The success of this summer’s round-Britain cruises is a testament to the commitment shown by so many people working within cruise but also in ports, local authorities, health bodies and government.

Since last summer, around 1.2m people have sailed on cruises around the world, CLIA UK & Ireland noted.

In the UK, where domestic cruises were permitted from 17 May, more than 100,000 people have sailed on the 21 ships that have offered this holidays. This should be seen against the background that up to the third week of July, ships were only allowed to board 1,000 passengers or 50% of their capacity, whichever figure was lower.