A total of 296 cruise line and port leaders, travel experts and travel agents gathered at CruiseWorld Asia 2023 for a day of sharing, networking, and exchanging of ideas with industry friends and colleagues.

Organised by Travel Weekly Asia, the annual flagship cruise conference took place at Mandarin Oriental, Singapore on 7 November 2023, with support from cruise line sponsors Resorts World Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, MSC Cruises, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, and Silversea Cruises; destination sponsors Hong Kong Tourism Board and Penang Global Tourism; and strategic partner Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore.

Here are some of the highlights from the cruise line panel and destination panel discussions.

Cruising interest surges, unleashing new opportunities

For Royal Caribbean Group, 2023 was a record-breaking year in its history operating out of Singapore. The pandemic was the catalyst that introduced a greater proportion of the local population to cruising with cruise-to-nowhere sailings, and the growth trajectory has since continued. Singapore, for instance, has now become one of the world’s highest penetration of cruisers at over 7%, noted Royal Caribbean Group’s VP, Asia Pacific, Angie Stephen.

Stephen also urged the local trade to open up its cruise selling playbook to beyond homeport sailings, considering further itineraries in other parts of Asia. "We recently did a 12-night sailing from Singapore to Tokyo, and then another 12 Nights Tokyo to Singapore, typically for those types of long itineraries, they are filled with international guests for long-haul markets like Europe, Australia, and the US. Half of the ship was filled by Asian markets, so the Asian customer is ready to sail beyond what they know."

Diversity of cruise itineraries grows richer

Resorts World Cruises, which was established in 2022, has expanded the diversity of itineraries with its dual homeport strategy, with Genting Dream homeported in both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and Resorts World One in Hong Kong and Kaohsiung. During its 18 months of operation, its steady expansion of fresh itineraries and themed sailings has increased business opportunities for trade partners.

“Our DNA is to continue to bring new cruising concepts into Asia, into the world. We want it to be a cruise line that is adaptable to do what the consumer wants and is able and not afraid to make changes so long as we don't compromise in terms of safety,” stated Michael Goh, president, Resorts World Cruises.

With Resorts World Cruises having year-round deployment in Hong Kong and Royal Caribbean international returning to Hong Kong in winter 2024 for the Christmas and New Year seasons, building strong partnerships with cruise lines and cruise agents is one of Hong Kong Tourism Board's top priorities, according to Kenneth Wong, general manager of MICE and cruise at HKTB.

With a crop of new attractions and offerings such as the Hong Kong Palace Museum, M+ contemporary museum, and the Frozen themed land at Hong Kong Disneyland, there are more options for travel agents to craft creative pre- and post-cruise packages for their customers, Wong added.

Uniworld’s Henry Yu, MSC Cruises' Helen Huang; Resorts World Cruises' Michael Goh and Royal Caribbean International’s Angie Stephen joined a panel discussion moderated by Travel Weekly Asia’s Xinyi Liang-Pholsena and Travel Weekly’s Arnie Weissmann.

Southeast Asia muscles up as a cruise source market

MSC Cruises, which returns to Asia with Japan sailings in 2023, is expected to bring two ships into China next year – MSC Bellissima and MSC Splendida MSC - operating ships from its homeports in Shanghai and Shenzhen and sailing to Keelung (Taipei), Yokohama, Tokyo and Naha.

Having established a presence in Greater China, MSC Cruises is now looking to grow the cruise market in Southeast Asia. The Europe-based cruise line has started to work directly in Southeast Asia in September 2022, and its target for the first three years is to learn how to grow business in this region with the travel trade.

Said Helen Huang, Great China president: “We are number one in the European cruise market; we have a great deal to offer - we have the most modern ships in the industry and will be continuously building the best ships in the world. And then we also have more and more flexibility for embarkation and disembarkation.”

Heightened interest in experiential travel

“In order to drive the business here in Asia, we really need to rely on travel trade partners, to promote the beauty of river cruises to consumers in Asia in many different ways,” said Henry Yu, managing director, Asia at Uniworld Boutique Cruise Line, which has 70 ships globally which are privately owned and operated.

He shared that marketing river cruises offer a very high return rate and 70% of clients have indicated that they would return at least once in the next three years. The Singapore market for Uniworld is largely dominated by FITs, ranging from four to six pax. In Malaysia, they range between 10 to 15 pax, and between 20 to 25 pax in Taiwan.

Ultra-luxury and expedition cruise line Silversea Cruises, which is part of the Royal Caribbean Group, will launch bespoke itineraries on board Silver Shadow in 2025, sailing to beautiful fjords and rarely visited ports. Expeditions on Silver Endeavour and Silver Wind will access remote shores of the British Isles. Said Philipps Walker, marketing director: “You're likely never have heard of these. But our customers love to explore these destinations where they've never been before. And with our small luxury ships, we can take them right into those destinations. And we pride ourselves in accessing raw and wild places.”

Sell the value of cruise vacations

Cruising offers immense value for vacations, said Resorts World Cruises' Goh. “The cruise product in fact, is an excellent product for you to package with your destination, especially the fly-cruise business, because the cruise products include all elements with bills and entertainments and activities," he said, urging trade partners to maximise this potential in selling crusing."

More opportunities abound for FITs too. Royal Caribbean's Stephen added: “Younger travellers want the flexibility of the choice of the date that they want. You're going to be able to tap into that audience - not necessarily by group block – as they're willing to pay the FIT pricing and secure their own airfare…So think about evolving the model to go more FIT and promote the destination of the cruise, and then sell it at FIT. It's probably going to be a little bit higher in price, but you'll make more commission on that as well.”