Twelve British travel writers have come together to produce a five-minute video explaining why they love cruises.
The journalists, all working from home in lockdown, decided to act after being dismayed by unbalanced and inaccurate coverage of the industry over the handling of coronavirus cases during the pandemic.
All cruise lines have been forced to halt operations after countries around the world imposed restrictions on travel.
The dozen specialists, including past and present BGTW members) who took part are Sue Bryant, Sara Macefield, Jeannine Williamson, Rebecca Barnes, Gary Buchanan, Adam Coulter, Jane Archer, Lesley Bellew, Caroline Hendrie, Deborah Stone, Nick Dalton and Dave Monk. Between them they have notched up many hundreds of cruises all around the world.
The writers work for leading websites and publications including The Times and Sunday Times, Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, Daily Express, Daily Mirror, Cruise Critic, World of Cruising, Cruise International, Travel Weekly, Travel Trade Gazette, Cruise Adviser and American Express Departures.
The video was edited by Dave Monk, who said: “We didn’t want it to be too long so we set ourselves a limit of 20 seconds each – which is a very short time to convey your love of such a wide-ranging industry. Even so, between us we have covered big ships, small ships, square riggers, expeditions and river cruising in various regions.
“Although this project was spurred by the coronavirus outbreak we didn’t want to make it all about that – we decided to create a positive, upbeat video that will stand the test of time even when, thank goodness, we are all sailing again.”
BGTW member Lesley Bellew added: “I wanted to support the cruise lines during this pause in travel.
“Airlines, hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions have avoided the same scrutiny as the cruise industry because they do not have to work under the same health reporting rules.”
