THE world’s largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation, is aiming for a 50 per cent share of the Asian cruise market in 2017 and intends to establish South-east Asia as Caribbean of the East, with Singapore as the hub.
The corporation opened its regional unit, Carnival Asia, in Singapore today (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 21, 2012), on the back of its projection that the Asian cruise market would grow to 3.7 million passengers by 2017, from 1.5 million now.
Pier Luigi Foschi, Carnival Asia chairman and CEO, told TTG Asia e-Daily in an interview this morning: “We would like our share of Asia to be the same as our share of the market worldwide, which is 50 per cent.”
He said the majority of Asian cruise passengers today sail into Alaska or Europe rather than Asia, but Carnival hoped to be a game-changer by developing regional cruising.
“In other parts of the world, particularly the Caribbean and Central America, Carnival operates cruise terminals and opens new destinations. There are a number of examples where they (destinations or ports) got US$40-US$50 million each to start from scratch, and remote beaches and islands have been transformed into cruise destinations by us. Other cruise lines have done this too in those places. If they see us having a presence here and committing resources here, I am sure they will follow suit and that’s how we can change the game,” Foschi said.
“But it won’t be easy and it will take years. We need to work with governments. We are here to show the example, commit capital and find supporters from both the public and private sectors to develop new destinations in South-east Asia, which is our primary focus.”
He would not say however how much capital Carnival Asia had set aside to invest in the development of regional cruising.
Asked why Carnival is focused on Singapore and South-east Asia, not China, which is already its largest Asian source market through Costa Cruises, Foschi said: “We believe Singapore is going to be a good hub for year-round cruising. If you want to station ships in Asia, you need customers throughout the year. Singapore has good surroundings, stable weather conditions through the year and solid infrastructure. Our success will be in bringing people from North Asia to Singapore through fly-cruise programmes when we’re not able to send ships in North Asia because of the climate conditions, e.g., rough seas.”
While Carnival currently has 101 ships, only four are based in Singapore, the latest being Costa Atlantica, which will cruise the region from this week (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 27, 2013), and the Sapphire Princess, which will cruise South-east Asia from November 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 9, 2013).
Other cruise companies are looking at Carnival Asia with interest. Steve Odell, president Europe & Asia-Pacific of Silversea Cruises, told TTG Asia e-Daily in an email: “As you know, three cruise lines RCI (Royal Caribbean International), Star Cruises and Silversea have spent the past decade working intensively in developing regional markets both as a source of business and as cruise destination. In that time we have all learned a great deal about the unique approach that must be adopted in this diverse marketplace, plus we are now benefiting from trusting long-term relationships with the distribution system. In Asia, more than anywhere, trusting relationships with longevity and loyalty are essential for success.
“Carnival’s move into Singapore will of course be beneficial to the whole industry – more investment regionally means more ‘voice’ for cruising among all the other travel choices available.”
But Adam Goldstein, RCI president & CEO, would only say “it’s far too early to tell” when asked whether Carnival’s entry would be a game-changer.
– Read the full report in View From the Top in TTG Asia May 17, 2013
