CRUISE-CRAZY Singaporeans will soon be able to sail to ports in Japan and South Korea.
This will be possible with the world's second-largest cruise operator, Royal Caribbean, deploying a second ship to ply its Asian cruise routes from here and Shanghai, just a year after opening its regional headquarters here.
The move will double - from nine to 18 - the number of cruises departing from Singapore during the December-to-May sailing season. The extra ship - the 1,800-capacity Legend Of The Seas - will call at 16 regional ports, including new stops in Yokohama, Japan and Busan, South Korea.
The lone ship that Royal Caribbean has used in the past year, the 2,435-capacity Rhapsody Of The Seas, will now operate out of Australia.
Royal Caribbean has reason to be upbeat about filling the berths on the two vessels. The 60,000 passengers it hosted on its Asia-Pacific cruises in the past season was a 111 per cent leap from the season before.
The company expects revenue from this region to grow 66 per cent this year over last year's figure.
All in, the Asia-Pacific cruise market is expected to hit 1.5 million passengers by 2010. It was one million just a few years ago, noted Royal Caribbean chief executive and president Adam Goldstein.
He said: "Based on the emerging wealth of the region, the number of established cities here near water and the satisfaction of our Asian guests so far, we are very optimistic about Asia.
"We don't just want to participate in its growth, we want to lead it. That's why we are stepping up our level of involvement."
North America remains the American cruise operator's dominant market. Passengers from the Asia-Pacific account for about 3 per cent of its revenue, but this market is growing fast.
Within Asia-Pacific, Singapore is one of the leading markets, along with China and India. About one in three bookings for its Asia-Pacific cruises in the last season was made by Singaporeans.
Mr Goldstein said that more regional commitment to infrastructure, such as Singapore's upcoming cruise terminal in Marina South, would be a crucial factor in shaping the growth of the industry in the region. "Not all ports have
committed to such infrastructure development, but the momentum is now there," he noted.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 3, 2008.
