£1m. wiped off cruise revenue so far

And that will only grow if cancellations continue.

So far 20 visits have been cancelled between 20 March and 11 May as the island seeks to slow the spread of Covid-19 and restrict unnecessary travel movements.

The Columbus’s visit on 16 May has also been cancelled.

That vessel returned to the UK only yesterday after a month-long voyage from Thailand, having set off on a round-the-world cruise from London on 6 January before the pandemic was confirmed and restrictions put in place.

Last year, the industry brought nearly £4m. into the economy.

It was estimated that each cruise ship passenger spends about £34 each on-island during their visit. This is often on excursions or gifts.

The 21 ships that have been cancelled so far would have brought up to 34,812 passengers to the island. They could have spent up to about £1.18m.

The largest cruise ship to cancel was the five-year-old Britannia, which can carry more than 4,300 people and is the largest ship that has been built for the British market. It is currently docked in Southampton, with its sailings cancelled until at least late May.

The rest of the Guernsey cruise ship schedule is still set to operate, with dozens of ships due to visit later in the year unless lockdown continues. May would have been the island’s busiest month for cruise ships.