ASIAN cruise pioneer Jebsen Travel & Tours Services will focus on promoting incoming and outgoing cruises in Thailand, having set up a company in Bangkok as part of a joint venture agreement with Thailand-based Marvel Holidays.
Jebsen Cruise Marketing (Thailand) will be operational come December 1 with an initial staff size of 10, and will market all 48 franchise cruise line products carried by the Kuala Lumpur-based Jebsen.
The company’s managing director, Lim Chee Tong, said: “I have chosen to work with Sawat Napol, CEO and managing director of Marvel Holidays, because he has promised full-time involvement in the cruise business. (Marvel) has no background in the cruise business. We have the expertise to help build it up.
“We know the Thai cruise market is stable and growing, and I anticipate at least 20 per cent annual growth in the number of cruise passengers. Thailand is a good market for group cruises as Thais seldom go cruising individually, due to the language barrier.”
Lim added that the time was right to expand Jebsen’s Asian business as he expects about five more cruise ships to be stationed in the region permanently by end-2014, joining the three main players here – Costa Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Star Cruises.
He also believes in the potential of the luxury cruise segment in Thailand. “This year alone, a Thai (travel consultant) held the record for selling Seabourn cruises to 750 passengers from Thailand, comprising both leisure and incentive travellers,” Lim pointed out.
Moving forward, he plans to upgrade Jebsen’s online booking engine to include instant confirmation.
Marvel Holidays is Jebsen Travel & Tours Services’ seventh joint venture partner, the others being Club Thomas in Seoul; Cruise Club in Jeddah, Royal Cruise Express in Taipei; Stamford Discovery Cruise Center in Singapore; Best Cruise Centre in Jakarta and Comfort Leisure in Bengaluru.
