CRUISENEWS

ASEANFebruary 2016

Southeast Asian nations have joined forces to launch a single cruise brand as they bid to lift the profile of the region as a destination and broaden the tourism market.With neighbouring China driving a chunk of the cruise industry’s growth in the Asian region – the fastest-growing worldwide – the new push by ASEAN reflects efforts to attract more ships to the 10 member countries. Tourism ministers unveiled a new logo – a lively colourful wave formation reflecting the region’s diversity – and the tagline “feel the warmth” at a summit in the Philippines last month.The launch of the unified regional brand spearheaded

by Singapore comes ahead of ASEAN’s 50th anniversary in 2017, with the association set to mark the occasion with a year-long travel campaign to market the region as a destination.The Asian region has already been experiencing spectacular growth in cruise passenger volumes from 775,000 to almost 1.4 million passengers between 2012 and 2014 – a 34 per cent annual growth rate, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) – although China dominates the market with an almost 50 percent share.Within Southeast Asia, Indonesia is expected to experience the biggest jump in cruise passenger volumes

ROYAL CARIBBEAN AND WWFRCCL has pledged $5 million dollars to the World Wildlife Fund to support global ocean conservation work. It includes $200,000 to Donsol in the Philippines.

PANDAW OFFERS NEW LUXURY CRUISE FROM SEPTEMBERPandaw Cruises has unveiled a new ship with a 14-night itinerary set to sail on the Upper Mekong from Vien-tiane to Jinghong. Yunnan Pandaw will be the sister ship to the Laos Pandaw. Land excursions include visits to the old colonial town on Pak Lai and much more.

CORAL EXPEDITIONS IN ASIA Aussie line expands

PORT REPORT: MANILA The Filipino port is one of the most popular

RCCL INCREASES FILIPINO EMPLOYMENT Cruise line to increase the number of Filipino employees to 30,000

NEW CLIA REPORT New figures for travel agents

LINES REFUND PASSENGERS Zika outbreak

MEDCRUISES TARGETS ASIAN CRUISERS Looks to Asia as source market

LAUNCH IN SINGAPORE Seabourn party at Marina Bay

PONANT PREDICTS GROWTH French line eyes Asian market

CRYSTAL RESURRECTS SHIP Luxury line buys historic liner

SOUTHEAST ASIA UNITES TO LAUNCH

CRUISE BRAND TO INCREASE TOURISMHIGHLIGHTS INSIDE

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Official newsletter of the ASEAN Cruise Working Group

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CRUISENEWS

ASEANFebruary 2016

Who goes there: Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Cunard, Oceania Cruises, P&O Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, Silversea Cruises.Cruisers like: The densely populated capital has been a fortified trading centre since the 13th century. History spans centuries, from the walled Spanish settlement of Intramuros and the 16th- century San Augustin church to the tranquil Manila Amer-ican Cemetery and Memorial with graves of thousands of Americans who died in WWII.Keen shoppers should head to the many malls or the indoor-outdoor Greenbelt haven of Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, southeast of central Manila.

Seabourn Cruise Line is launching its newest ship with a huge party at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore - underscoring the award winning luxury brand’s hunt for more Asian passengers.The Seabourn Encore will sail straight to Singapore from the Venetian shipyard where she is being built, and will be joined at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre by the Seabourn Sojourn.After the January 7, 2017 party, The Sojourn will sail in Asia while the Encore will sail in Australia – both within reach of Asian cruisers in the region.John Delaney, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales, told ASEAN Cruise News Asia is a “hot” destination and Seabourn was seeking to grow in the region.Hence the amazing launch

party in Singapore.“We have been given permission to take over the Marina Bay Cruise Centre, we will have both ships in together and we are planning a wonderful party for all 1,050 guests to celebrate and it is really going to celebrate Asian culture.“There will be local entertainment, local musicians, we’re working very closely with the Singapore Tourism Bureau to ensure guests get the best cultural highlights of Singapore, with pre and post tours at the beautiful gardens at the bay.Mr Delaney was speaking aboard the Seabourn Odyssey in Sydney, during a weekend of high-end cruising in which Ponant, Azamara and Silversea were all represented.

PORT REPORT: MANILA

SEABOURN TO LAUNCH NEWEST CRUISE SHIP AT MARINA BAY

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PRINCESS CRUISES has revealed brand new livery on its new cruise ship Majestic Princess. The design of the new livery, which will be the first Princess ship built for the Chinese market, was revealed during the float out ceremony.Princess’ logo will be painted across the bow of the ship to showcase the brand to the growing Chinese market. The new hull artwork is designed to take Princess Cruises into a new era with a modern-sophisticated look. Majestic Princess will be homeported in Shanghai from 2017 and accommodate 3,560 guests.

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Official newsletter of the ASEAN Cruise Working Group

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CRUISENEWS

ASEAN

Official newsletter of the ASEAN Cruise Working Group

September 2015

IT HAS BEEN HAILED as the forerunner of collaborative

efforts to boost cruise in Southeast Asia – a multi-million

dollar deal that ties Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Changi

Airport Group with one of the world’s largest cruise carriers.

Royal Caribbean’s Corporate Communications Manager,

Singapore & SE Asia, Chin Ying Duan told us where new

passengers would be coming

from. “Within Asia they include India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the

Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and

outside of Asia it’s Australia, Europe (mainly the UK) and

North America,” she said. Ms Annie Chang, Director (Cruise),

Singapore Tourism Board, said partnerships like this are critical

in developing a regional cruise industry.COSTA CRUISES WINS

AT CRUISE AWARDSCosta Cruises has won the Best Cruise Line Awards in Jeju Korea.

The awards are organ-ised by the Asia Cruise

Forum and this is the inaugural awards ceremoney.

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES RETURNSOne of the most popular

cruise lines, Norwegian will return to Singapore

- the first time since 2001. The line will start its sailings from October

2016.

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CUNARD PLANS WORLD CRUISELuxury line Cunard announced all three Queens will be embarking on a world tour which will include

calls in Asia. The Queens will be sailing from January 2017.

SHOPPING ON CRUISE SHIPS Asians spend big on cruisesPORT REPORT: BENOA Indonesia’s port is one of the most popularLAOS DEVELOPS RIVER

Tourism board looks at pushing river cruisingNCL RETURNS TO ASIA

First time since 2001CRYSTAL ACTIVITIES & FOOD New yacht adventuresPANDAW IN MYANMAR

Four more itinerariesCOSTA WINS BIG Best Cruise Line awardMAKE THE MOST OF YOUR CRUISE FAMIL Peter Kollar’s tips on how to sell cruise.

ASEAN CRUISE NEWS SPEAKS TO

STB AND ROYAL CAB ON DEAL HIGHLIGHTS INSIDE

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CONTACT

A new marketing force for Southeast Asian cruise

WE TALK TO CONSUMERSIn print : A new luxury gloss magazine with a circulation of 20,000 across SEA

Online: Mobile-friendly website + social media Great advice for the first time cruiser and hundreds of ship and destination reviews

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WE TALK TO THE TRADEIn print: Bi-annual directory featuring training and product news

Online: A website featuring news, training modules and destination guidesThe official ASEAN Cruise News newsletter

The official ASEAN Cruise Map of Southeast Asia

+ PR, Video and VR, custom content, web content, brochure production, white labelled content, campaign creation and strategy, media buying, events

Whatever your cruise needs - we’ve got you covered!

Consumer magazines

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CRUISENEWS

ASEAN

Official newsletter of the ASEAN Cruise Working Group

February 2016

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MEDCRUISES ANNOUNCE IT WILL BE TARGETING ASIAN TOURISTSMEMBERS of the Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports are targeting the Asian market after the release of an Organisation of Economic Corporation and Development, which suggests a surge in the number of Asian cruisers. The report suggests that the number of Asian passengers could grow from 1.3 million in 2012 to almost four million in 2020.MedCruise members met last month and decided it is time for the area to explore the

advantages of Asia as a source market in the medium and long term future. The group has made it a mission to grow awareness of the Mediterranean as a destination by participating in educational programs for agents which started in Asia in 2013. MedCruise will be continuing with its participation this year. Recently, the group started a major project to establish known and preferred cruise destinations for cruise tourists and visitors from China.

SAIL LIKE A BILLIONAIRE ON SCENIC YACHTScenic has announced it is building what it describes as the “world’s first discovery yacht” – an audacious move that pitches the Australian-owned river cruise line against luxury brands.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN’S Ovation of the Seas nears completion for its Chinese debut. The line’s third Quantam class ship is currently under construction in Papenburg, Germany. The ship will be making its debut in April.

CRYSTAL CRUISES continues its astonishing spend with The New York Times reporting it has signed an option to buy the SS United States, a historic liner once considered the fastest in the world.

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15 MINUTES WITH RICHARD FAINChairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Richard Fain spoke to ASEAN Cruise News about the line’s expansion into Asia.

Is Royal Caribbean finding Asian cruisers like to cruise locally, rather than internationally? If you look at any country, travel trends go in concentric circles and the closer you are, the denser the traffic is because it is obviously much more difficult, in terms of time and money to go further afield. But Asians are now hungrier for new and different experiences. Where do the Chinese like to travel?If you specifically talk about China, then doing outbound travel is relatively new. So any outbound travel for the Chinese tends to be to the closer destinations like Taiwan, Japan and Korea. And as that market grows we will then start to see the Chinese start to look to Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. What is the difference between training staff for the European market versus the Asian market?We have found that it is understanding the different nuances that apply to each different region.

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AUSTRALIAN-BASED cruise line Coral Expe-ditions announced its inaugural season in Asia. Guests can experience seven expeditions in-cluding visits to Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

CLIA HAS released the first of its quarterly research studies which is “designed to forecast trends in the cruise industry among the travel agent community.” One finding was that 43% of agents expect sales volumes from cruises to be up by 10% from 2015.

CRUISENEWS

ASEANFebruary 2016

ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL TO INCREASE FILIPINO EMPLOYEES TO 30,000 IN FIVE YEARSROYAL CARIBBEAN has announced it will be hiring a total of 30,000 Filipino crew members over the next five years and it plans to expand its fleet in Asia. RCL Chairman and CEO Richard Fain made the announcement during a recent trip to Manila. He also announced a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund. Mr Fain said the company has entered into a joint venture with the Philippine Transmarine Carriers (PTC) to establish and run a new office in Manila. “A large part of the success of Royal Caribbean has been because of the men and women on our ships that provide incredible services. The getting, attracting, retaining and working with those crew members is one of the most important success packages. All up we have 65,000 employees and the single largest of those nationalities is Filipino. Over 11,000 of our employees come from the Phil-ippines and they are terrific crew members. “What we wanted to do was to raise our perfor-mance and do a better job. We have worked very closely with the PTC and the Filipino government to improve the process and set up a new system to allow us to do that. We are now seeing some functions that use to be done out of the country moving into the Philippines.”

RCL will be setting up a second training facility in the Mall of Asia in addition to their existing site in Maragondon Cavite in Manila. “We have a very large presence in Asia and most of the new destinations will be in Asia because this market grow very quickly because of the good value for money,” said Mr Fain. He also signalled that while routes to China and Australia are currently the most popular, the line is also looking more towards ASEAN nations like Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and Hong Kong.Mr Fain also visited Royal Caribbean’s training facility in Tianjin in China and said that the line would be training more Chinese nationals to cater for the growing market.

FRENCH EXPEDITION cruise line Ponant is predicting strong growth in its Asia Pacific market – up by 5 per cent to reach 20 per cent this year. “Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market for Ponant comprising 15 per cent last year. We expect the figure will reach 20 per cent by the end of 2016,’’ expedition manager for Asia Pacific Mick Fogg says in an interview with ASEAN Cruise News. Ponant’s biggest market is from French-speaking coun-tries at 50 per cent. North America/Canada is the second biggest at 35 per cent. A growing number of Asian adven-ture seekers have cruised with Ponant to the polar regions recently and it is likely that numbers will increase over the next few years, Mr Fogg says.

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Official newsletter of the ASEAN Cruise Working Group