By
Rebecca Gibson |
Changi Airport Group (CAG), Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Princess Cruises have established a multi-million dollar initiative to help boost Asia’s fly-cruise market.
Aimed at promoting Singapore as a cruise hub, the partnership with Princess – one of Carnival Corporation & plc’s ten cruise brands – started in April 2015. To date, the companies have established a series of marketing campaigns promoting Princess’ itineraries in various countries in Asia including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan. The campaigns also targeted Australia, the UK and the US.
“Princess Cruises is proud to be a partner of CAG and STB,” said Jan Swartz, the cruise line’s president. “We are confident that this collaboration will complement our expansion efforts in Asia and we look forward to developing the regional cruise market through continued investment in our people and resources.”
Princess is the second of Carnival Corporation’s brands to partner with STB and CAG. In September 2012, the companies worked with Costa Cruises to help the line market its product and deploy more ships in the Asia Pacific region. During the first year of the partnership, CAG and STB helped Costa to intensify marketing efforts to Asian consumers, which resulted in 5,000 Asian cruise passengers flying through Changi Airport and spending time in Singapore before and after their cruises.
Changi Airport, which has connections to 270 cities worldwide and operates around 6,600 weekly flights, has also been actively collaborating with airlines and travel agents to promote fly-cruise packages in markets such as China and India.
“CAG welcomes this opportunity to partner STB to grow passenger source markets in Asia and heighten awareness of cruising as a desired travel option,” said Lim Ching Kiat, CAG’s senior vice president for market development. “This second tripartite collaboration with Carnival Corporation’s group of cruise brands further highlights our synergistic efforts to grow the fly-cruise segment in Singapore. Changi Airport’s strong connectivity to destinations across the world complements STB’s vision of making Singapore a global cruise hub, while supporting Princess Cruises’ new offerings in Singapore.”
According to market research, many Asian consumers do not have a strong awareness of cruising, but are highly receptive to the industry. Working in collaboration with the Asia Cruise Association, STB helped to launch a training programme for travel agents across Southeast Asia in 2013. Created to develop a pool of cruise specialists, the programme aims to expand the trade network and make Southeast Asia more attractive to cruise companies. Travel agents have focused on the benefits of fly-cruise holidays, which offer travellers increased flexibility, competitive prices and a wider range of itineraries.
“Through this complementary partnership, STB and CAG will work together to promote the concept of flying into Singapore to cruise,” said Neeta Lachmandas, assistant chief executive, business development group, STB. “We are excited that Princess Cruises has come onboard and look forward to more cruise lines joining us in tapping on the immense potential of cruising in Southeast Asia.”
Lachmandas added: “Changi Airport is world-renowned and travellers would be able to relate to the convenience and seamlessness associated with both Changi Airport and fly-cruise holidays. Together, our goal is to make Singapore the preferred regional cruise hub.”