THE fly-cruise market in Asia-Pacific has immense potential for growth, but is facing several impediments that must be tackled jointly by stakeholders, say cruise industry leaders.
Speaking at a plenary session during Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific, Buhdy Bok, vice president Asia-Pacific and China, Costa Cruises, cited the cruise line’s successful fly-cruise partnership with Air France signed in 2007, and painted a rosy outlook of Asia-Pacific’s fly-cruise segment.
He said: “About one million passengers sailed through the ports of Singapore and Hong Kong in 2011. Assuming that 50 per cent of this figure are fly-cruise passengers, that would translate to a potential 500,000 passengers.”
Hence, the “potential of the fly-cruise sector is big and expected to grow”, he added.
Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) head of marketing communications & development, Sheldon Hee, agreed that “the (Asia-Pacific) cruise market is significantly growing” and is currently only “scratching the surface of demand”.
To tap the growing demand, SIA is looking invest double-digit growth in its fly-cruise business to attract new customers to come on board in the coming years, according to Hee.
However, the fly-cruise market is not without its challenges. Apart from differing travel preferences between air and cruise passengers as well as difficulty in matching schedules and inventories, a more crucial issue is the “challenge of connectivity” as integrated travel – the availability of easy connections, etc – is not yet possible in many parts of Asia, Hee pointed out.
Recognising the importance of a “seamless travel experience”, SATS-Creuers Cruise Services, the operator of the Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore, has already made fly-cruise facilities available at Changi Airport Terminal 3, said its CEO, Melvin Vu.
A reverse cruise-fly amenity will also be ready for relaunch when Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager of the Seas calls at Marina Bay Cruise Centre in October.
