Singapore Aims for a Fly-Cruise Strategy to Make It the Top Cruise Gateway to Asia

According to the Changi Airport Group (CAG), the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Princess Cruises, the fly-cruise market in Asia is largely untapped and they intend to capitalize on its potential for growth.

The three organizations have announced a new initiative, focused on increasing the demand for this passenger traffic to be routed through Singapore, as a leading hub.

According to Jan Swartz, President of Princess Cruises, “This collaboration will complement our expansion efforts in Asia.” Swartz also states a commitment to further develop the regional cruise market “through continued investment in people and resources.”

Changi Airport believes that their global reach, with connections to 270 cities worldwide on 6,600 weekly flights, give Singapore “a strategic advantage to effectively tap fly-cruise traffic from across the globe and serve as a cruise hub for Asia.”

This collaboration with Princess Cruise Lines is part of a larger strategy to attract cruises to Singapore, which began with a “multi-million dollar collaboration to deploy more ships” and to support the marketing efforts of another Carnival cruise brand, Costa Cruises, in 2012.

Mr Lim Ching Kiat, CAG’s Senior Vice-President for Market Development states the new collaboration with Princess Cruise Lines “further highlights our synergistic efforts to grow the fly-cruise segment in Singapore.”

Declaring themselves “champion[s] for the Singapore cruise industry,” STB have tapped into their market intelligence, which indicates “Asian consumers have low awareness but high receptivity towards cruising.” They have therefore structured a marketing campaign focused on training travel agents in the region to sell potential customers on the benefits of seeing the world on a cruise ship, with a specific focus on fly-cruise holiday packages.

According to Ms Neeta Lachmandas, Assistant Chief Executive, Business Development Group, Singapore Tourism Board, this partnership will “promote the concept of flying into Singapore to cruise.” She adds that Changi Airport would provide “convenience and seamlessness” to fly-cruise holiday passengers.

Princess, CAG and STB have earmarked China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan as potential destinations in Asia; but state that they are also promoting cruises “further afield” in Australia, United Kingdom and the United States.

According to data they have provided, the Asian cruise tourism market will grow to 3.8 million by 2020. They report that Singapore received 1.03 million cruise passengers in 2013 and 391 ship calls.

Marisa Garcia has worked in aviation since 1994, spending 16 years on the design and manufacturing of cabin interiors and cabin safety equipment. She shares insights gained from this experience on Flight Chic and Tweets as @designerjet.