Changi, STB and Princess partners to promote Singapore
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 26 May 2014 26 May 2014
Changi Airport Group (CAG), Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and Princess Cruises have announced an initiative aimed at growing Asia’s fly-cruise segment and promoting demand for cruise holidays from Singapore.
This multi-million dollar tripartite collaboration commenced last month with a series of marketing campaigns promoting Princess Cruises’ sailings not just in Asia, but also further afield in Australia, United Kingdom and the United States. The Asian countries earmarked are China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan. Princess Cruises is part of Carnival Corporation, the world largest cruise company
With a low penetration of cruising in Asia, there is a huge potential for cruise companies to grow in this region by developing new passenger source markets. Cruise lines that are looking to begin or extend sailings out of Singapore will benefit by working with CAG and STB. Jan Swartz, President of Princess Cruises said, “Princess Cruises is proud to be a partner of CAG and STB. 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.”
Further strengthening this collaboration is Changi Airport’s strong connectivity to 270 cities worldwide, combined with some 6,600 weekly flights, giving Singapore a strategic advantage to effectively tap fly-cruise traffic from across the globe and serve as a cruise hub for Asia.
According to the Asia Cruise Association, Asia has a penetration rate of less than 0.1% compared to 3.3% in the USA.
Long Term Commitment to Cruise
Since 2012, CAG and STB have been partnering cruise liners on initiatives to anchor more ships within Singapore’s waters. In September 2012, CAG and STB jointly supported Costa Cruises – one of the cruise brands under the Carnival Corporation – on a multi-million dollar collaboration to deploy more ships and to market the cruise liner within Asia Pacific. In the first year of collaboration, Costa Cruises received support to intensify marketing efforts to Asian consumers, yielding positive results, recording 5,000 Asian cruise passengers flying through Changi Airport and spending time in Singapore before and after their cruises.
In tandem, CAG has also been actively collaborating with airlines and travel agents on marketing campaigns to promote fly-cruise packages in markets such as China and India.
Mr Lim Ching Kiat, CAG’s Senior Vice-President for Market Development, said, “Changi Airport Group welcomes this opportunity to partner STB to grow passenger source markets in Asia and heighten awareness of cruising as a desired travel option. This second tripartite collaboration with the Carnival Corporation’s group of cruise brands further highlights our synergistic efforts to grow the fly-cruise segment in Singapore. With Changi Airport’s strong connectivity to destinations across the world, this serves to complement STB’s vision of making Singapore a global cruise hub, whilst supporting Princess Cruises’ new offerings in Singapore.”
As a champion for the Singapore cruise industry, STB is also committed to helping cruise stakeholders succeed. For example, market research indicated that many Asian consumers have low awareness but high receptivity towards cruising. Given that the majority of cruise bookings are made through travel agents, a training programme for travel agents across Southeast Asia was launched in 2013, led by the Asia Cruise Association and facilitated by STB. The on-going training is steadily building a pool of cruise specialists, thus expanding the trade network and making Southeast Asia even more attractive to cruise companies.
In particular, fly-cruise is a key topic of discussion during the training. Travel agents learn of the benefits of fly-cruise holidays, where consumers enjoy greater convenience, competitive prices, and a wider range of itineraries. This ties in with CAG and STB’s united objective. “Through this complementary partnership, STB and CAG will work together to promote the concept of flying into Singapore to cruise. We are excited that Princess Cruises has come on board, and look forward to more cruise lines joining us in tapping on the immense potential of cruising in Southeast Asia,” said Ms Neeta Lachmandas, Assistant Chief Executive, Business Development Group, Singapore Tourism Board.
“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. We look forward to more of such fruitful collaborations in the future,” she added.
Norway leaves door ajar for more cruise ship arrests after RCCL ship held for unpaid charges
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 23 May 2014 23 May 2014
The Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) took arrest of the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) cruise vessel Independence of the Seas whilst in Aalesund harbor on Thursday. The reason for this was outstanding safety and pilotage fees related to several port calls and sailings in the coastal fairways during 2013, amounting to approximately NOK 600,000 (USD 101,000), said Arve Dimmen, Director Maritime Safety.
“In total, the Norwegian Coastal Administration is missing between NOK 6 to 7 million in fee payments from cruise ships (from various companies) for 2013, and we can not rule out that further arrests may be made in the weeks to come,” Dimmen said in a response emailed to questions by Cruise Business.
“After several payment reminders the Norwegian Coastal Administration saw no other option than taking the claim to the district court to get a court order in line with the The law of maritime liens. This enables them to act in the matter, and a representative of the local police then entered the ship to place it under arrest.”
“The Captain of the Independence of the Seas contacted Royal Caribbean Cruises immediately, and an hour later the debt was paid and the ship was then released. The Independence of the Seas left Aalesund as planned.”
“The law of maritime liens is a privileged claim on maritime-connected property, such as a ship, for services rendered to, or the injuries caused by that property. It is historically rare that the Norwegian Coastal Administration takes such actions to solve issues of outstanding payments. However, the Norwegian pilotage service is 100 % user-financed and therefore depends on the fees being paid at the right time.”
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Saga plc floats in London at 185p bottom of range price
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 23 May 2014 23 May 2014
Shares in Saga plc, the UK based company that offers a wide range of services from travel to investments to over 50s, has floated on the London Stock Exchange this morning at 185p per share, the bottom of its 185p to 245p indicated range.
The company has market capitalization of £2.1 billion following its flotation and it raised £550 milion in the process.
Saga is a major retailer of cruises and its Saga Cruises unit has two ships of its own.
The London market has seen several initial public offerings in recent weeks and toda four new companies said they plan to seek listing on the market. However, some others have pulled out from going public under the current trading conditionbs.
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