Ponant celebrates
PonanT has celebrated the launch of its newest vessel, Le Commandant Charcot, following its shakedown voyage which took the ship to the North Pole.
Ponant National BDM Craig Farrell is probably the only Aussie in the world to be cruising at the moment, on board this week during a cruise from La Rochelle to Lisbon with loyal customers.
laST week, PONANT celebrated the launch of Le Commandant Charcot in Le Havre, France, a major milestone for the world leader of luxury expeditions.
The ship had successfully reached the geographic North Pole in early September during her dry run, a first for a French vessel. Le Commandant Charcot is the world’s first LNG-powered hybrid-electric luxury polar exploration vessel, and PONANT’s newest addition to a fleet of 12 small luxury expedition vessels, making it a total of 13 ships.
A RECENT decision by the Federal Government to end COVID-19 Disaster Payments in line with vaccination targets reached by states and territories has been labelled “deeply concerning and disappointing” by The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA).
The industry body said the call to cease payments altogether once the 80% mark is reached fails to take into account the specific restrictions that business events will still be under, even after the important vaccination milestone is attained.
“When restrictions lift, business events cannot simply switch on like other industries,” BECA Deputy Chair Geoff Donaghy (pictured) said.
“Significant lead time is required to book, plan, and deliver business events, which is why targeted and sustained support for our sector is required into 2022,” he added.
BECA argues the Federal
Government policy to cut off all support funding also neglects important operational factors, including the requirement to conduct business events under restricted COVID-19 protocols and capacities.
The sector is also likely to battle ongoing uncertainty over whether bookings can go ahead, will need to operate with limited-to-no revenue streams in the short-term future, as well as contend with a skills exodus as businesses struggle to survive.
“Our once successful business events industry that contributed $36 billion to the economy and supported 230,000 jobs prepandemic needs the support of Government in this time of most dire need and should not be caught up in the Federation debate taking place at this time,” Donaghy said, adding govt must take action to support the sector.