Mein Schiff 1 will sail seven-day cruises from Singapore to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand
By
Rebecca Gibson |
TUI Cruises made its first-ever visit to Asia when Mein Schiff 1 made her inaugural call at Marina Bay Cruise Terminal in Singapore on 24 November.
Calling after a 15-day sailing, Mein Schiff 1 was greeted by Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises; Sebastian Ebel, TUI board member; Thomas Ellerbeck, group director of corporate and external affairs at TUI. Together with the ship’s captain Rolf Noack, the TUI representatives welcomed Michael Witter, Germany’s ambassador in Singapore, and Lionel Yeo, CEO of Singapore Tourism Board onboard Mein Schiff 1.
Mein Schiff 1 will now spend the winter season sailing three different seven-day routes from Singapore to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
“Singapore is an experienced cruising metropolis and with its modern terminals and strategically favourable location in Southeast Asia, this Asian city state is the ideal base port for developing this new region for us,” said Meier. “We are sure many of our guests will take the opportunity of spending a few additional days in Singapore either before or after their cruise.”
To mark its commitment to Southeast Asia, TUI has also entered into a marketing partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board and the Changi Airport Group. It is hoped this will attract more than 90,000 cruise passengers from Germany, Switzerland and Austria to the region over the next three years and generate an estimated S$50 million.
“Through this tripartite partnership, we hope to reach out to passengers in Europe to jointly market Singapore as an ideal base for their fly-cruise holiday, combining the excitement of Singapore with the beauty of other Asian destinations,” said Lee Seow Hiang, Changi Airport Group’s CEO.