Officials say the practice should be allowed "safely and securely" as it is fundamental to the tourist trade which the country relies upon so much – especially in the summer with more than 40 million visitors a year.

In January the cruise liner Costa Concordia capsized after it struck rocks while carrying out a salute and it left 32 people dead, with the captain Francesco Schettino now under house arrest charged with multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck.

At the time there was outrage when it emerged that cruise ships regularly carried out sail by salutes or inchinos as they are known in Italian, for publicity, coming dangerously close to the shore line in order to promote tourism and cruise holidays.

In the days after the disaster off the island of Giglio, footage emerged of ships sailing close not only to that island but also Procida near Naples and the coast of Sicily – their huge superstructure dwarfing holidaymakers watching from harbour walls and the beach.

On Sunday Ermando Mennella, president of the Federation of Hotel owners of Ischia, a popular holiday island close to Naples, said: "The inchino (salute) should be allowed to continue but obviously with safety and security guaranteed for all.

"It is fundamental for tourism especially to an island like Ischia and if it does not continue then it will have severe economic repercussions and cost jobs in the long run.

"For many years now cruise ships and mega yachts have been sailing past Ischia, which has helped promote our island in times of economic crisis and last summer alone more than 7,500 cruise ship passengers came ashore.

"The inchino is good publicity for islands and for the cruise lines."

Following the Costa Concordia incident the Italian government said the practice would in future be "limited or banned altogether" and Ischia's plea comes just two weeks after similar fears were raised by the Riviera resort of Portofino.

Italian maritime regulations state that cruise ships must come no closer than five nautical miles to land. Mr Mennella added: "The government's justifiable and determined approach following what happened at Giglio should not erase the possibilities that are generated from Italy's maritime patrimony."

In the days after the disaster Costa Cruises chairman and CEO Pierluigi Foschi told an Italian parliamentary committed that sail by salutes do happen with the approval of cruise lines.

He defended the practice of what he called "tourist navigations" and added: "It's something that enriches the cruise product. There are many components of the cruise product and we have to do them like everyone else because we are in a global competition."

Two bodies have still not been recovered from the scene of the Concordia and next month work will begin on straightening the ship and towing it away in a 12 month project that will cost more than $300 million.

On Saturday Costa Cruises launched its newest ship the Costa Fascinosa, which with a 3,800 passenger and crew capacity is the largest liner in the Italian fleet. The company also announced new methods for informing passengers about on-board safety as well as a system which allows then to follow in real time the routes of its ships to make sure they are sticking to allotted routed.