ASIA’S cruise industry continues to grow exponentially and is set for a “record-breaking year” this year, driven by booming demand from the Chinese travellers.
The number of Asians taking cruise trips has grown at a compound annual rate of 34 per cent since 2012, reaching 1.4 million last year, based on the latest figures released by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) this year.
From 2012 to 2014, the number of Chinese passengers grew 79 per cent per year. In 2014, 697,000 passengers were from China, close to the passenger figures from all other Asian markets combined, according to CLIA.
The study also reveals that intra-region itineraries are the most popular among Asian cruisers. More than nine out of 10 Asian passengers cruised within Asia, while the remaining nine per cent flew to cruise destinations outside the region, primarily in Europe, followed by Alaska and the Caribbean.
Cruise veterans see strong prospects in the Asian cruise industry.
Adam M Goldstein, global chairman, CLIA, said: “The cruise industry is responding by offering more cruises with experiences tailored to Asian travellers as well as enticing international travellers with an easy way to visit Asia’s array of fascinating destinations.”
Taleb Rifai, UNWTO secretary-general, said: “With more than 20,000 islands scattered around the Pacific and Indian Oceans and South China Sea, some of the world’s best beaches, as well as historic cities and a tropical climate favorable for year-round cruising, South-east Asia’s full potential for cruise tourism has yet to be unlocked.
“The South-east Asia region enjoys further advantage and potential for growth as one of the most open regions in terms of visa requirements,” added Rifai.
“In response, destinations must continue to reach out to these important source markets and offer tailor-made cruise experiences, such as short cruise packages catering to Asian travellers with shorter vacation days.”
Royal Caribbean Cruises managing director, Singapore and South-east Asia, Sean Treacy, agreed: “With a huge population, rising affluence and still very low rate of penetration of cruising in the region, there is enormous potential for our sector to grow in South-east Asia.”
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are the top three cruise destinations in South-east Asia, shared industry experts.
Star Cruises senior vice president of sales, Michael Goh, commented: “We continue to observe a double-digit upward growth in Southeast-Asia for the last five years, and we are optimistic of this steady growth.
“However, as cruise vacations become a reality in developing markets, it is crucial that the general public and travel (consultants) are educated about cruise products and that infrastructure development and improvement is taking place to accommodate projected cruise growth,” he added.
Likewise, Treacy sees an urgent need to develop more adequate ports and cruise infrastructures throughout South-east Asia to accommodate bigger ships.
He said: “The lack of these infrastructure for ships that can accommodate over 3,800 pax in many parts of the region today continues to limit the variety of cruise itineraries and deployment of larger cruise ships.
“For ships of any size, better road and transport infrastructure and more new tourism attractions nearer to the port areas need to be developed in a number of ports in South-east Asia, and all the more for those ports which are located far away from the main city attractions,” Treacy added. — Paige Lee Pei Qi
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