(From left) Sebastian Ebel, CEO, TUI Germany; Lionel Yeo, CEO, Singapore Tourism Board; Wybcke Meier, CEO, TUI Cruises; Michael Witter, ambassador of Germany in Singapore.
TUI Cruises has made Singapore its seasonal homeport and aims to bring thousands of cruise passengers from German-speaking markets to South-east Asia in the next three years.
A joint venture of TUI Group and Royal Caribbean Cruises, TUI Cruises docked the Mein Schiff 1 (“My Ship” in German) at the Marina Bay Cruise Terminal yesterday, its inaugural voyage in Asia.
It has also entered into a partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board and the Changi Airport Group with targets to attract over 90,000 cruise passengers from Germany, Switzerland and Austria to South-east Asia in the next three years, generating an estimated S$50 million (US$35.6 million) in tourism receipts.
For this winter season, Mein Schiff 1 will depart on three separate seven-day routes including ports of call in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, with roughly 2,000 guests aboard. Nearly 40,000 passengers are expected in total, spread across 18 calls.
Itineraries have also been planned for the next few winter seasons. “For the coming years, we have already decided to have Singapore as our homeport,” said Wybcke Meyer, CEO of TUI Cruises.
Unlike other cruise operators here, TUI Cruises is chiefly targeting the fly-cruise German-speaking market, added Meyer. “TUI Cruises is made for the German market. We know what the German customer wants while Royal Caribbean knows what the American customer wants,” she said.
