Where politics, religion and cruising collide

The New Zealand government has just banned the kosher slaughter of meat, including chicken. Leaving aside my own personal incandescence about a serious erosion of human rights in a country otherwise known for its observance of human rights, there is a cruise issue which needs to be addressed – and which further exposes the sheer imprudence of this decision.

In New Zealand, we have a Jewish Prime Minister who is also Minister of Tourism.In a time when we are trying to bolster tourism from Israel and prove that we are a hospitable destination, especially for Israeli youth, this decision will not be perceived favourably. More significantly, though, given that cruise tourism represents New Zealand’s biggest growth sector within the tourism industry, and given that there are large numbers of kosher passengers and a growing number of themed kosher cruises, that perception is one that New Zealand as a growing cruise destination should do everything it can to disperse. In addition, New Zealand is working very hard to get cruise lines to source food, wine etc locally as ships transit through New Zealand waters – a practice which Princess recently announced it will do.

Sorry, Mr PM – this decision not only doesn’t make sense, it has the potential of having a negative effect on our growing cruise sector.