Ireland's cruise industry will not recover until 2023

The MS Serenade of the Seas berthed in Cobh last year. The town in Cork Harbour was due to host 105 liner visits this year and a further 110 liners were booked to tie up there in 2021. File picture: Dan Linehan

Cruise liner visits to Ireland are unlikely to recover fully until 2023, which will lead to a major drop in tourism revenue for towns such as Cobh.

The town in Cork Harbour was due to host 105 liner visits this year and a further 110 liners were booked to tie up there in 2021. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has hit cruise line companies hard and a Government ban on all liner visits to ports remains in place, although some companies are running cruises off the Irish coast.