Luxury cruise ship Genting Dream will make Singapore its home port from 3 December as a part of a one-year operation.
The announcement was made on Thursday (Jan 19) by Dream Cruises, a premium cruise line owned by Genting Hong Kong. The 18-deck, 151,300-ton luxury liner can accommodate 3,400 guests. It currently calls at Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
The move to Singapore is predicted to draw about 200,000 foreign cruise passengers and generate about S$80 million in tourism revenue, based on the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
STB CEO Lionel Yeo said the Asian cruise market was becoming increasingly dynamic with the event of dedicated cruise terminals across Southeast Asia, with locations equivalent to Port Klang and Langkawi in Malaysia, and Laem Chabang in Thailand opening.
He added that Singapore has also seen a robust increase in sales, with double-digit sales recorded on the recent travel fair organised by the National Association of Travel Agents of Singapore (NATAS).
“We attract cruise guests from a wide range of destinations, from close-in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines to long-haul markets such as Australia, China and India,” Mr Yeo said. “In 2015, more than half of our international visitors to Singapore were from the middle and affluent classes, offering Genting Dream a ready market they can tap into immediately.”
Dream Cruises said the move to Singapore and other Southeast Asian destinations is being done “in complete isolation” from the Chinese market. The brand has a second cruise ship under construction called World Dream.
Source: Channel News Asia
