More than 800 guests including, Lionel Yeo, chief executive, Singapore Tourism Board, Lim Ching Kiat, managing director, Airhub Development, Changi Airport Group, and Lionel Wong, ceo, SATS-Creuers, government dignitaries, business, trade partners and media witnessed the debut.
With over 1.7m outbound sea travellers, Singapore is an important market for Dream Cruises.
Singapore also has the benefit of strong local support for the tourism industry as is evidenced by the innovative three-year tripartite joint cooperation partnership between the Singapore Tourism Board, Changi Airport Group and Dream Cruises.
This collaboration will see an investment of over SGD28m($20.6m) to promote Singapore as a key tourism destination and Asian cruise hub as well as a strategic gateway to access neighbouring countries through fly/cruise itineraries.
Kent Zhu, president of Genting Cruise Lines said, ‘it is our goal to help boost Singapore’s tourism industry with our presence in the city.
‘With this partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board, Changi Airport Group and our homeport deployment of Genting Dream in Singapore, we hope to encourage more vacationers from Singapore and internationally, including neighbouring countries to explore and expand their holiday experience in this dynamic city,’ added Zhu.
Lee Seow Hiang, Changi Airport Group’s ceo said, ‘Asia Pacific is currently the largest aviation market in the world, and will be the fastest growing region in the next 20 years. With Changi Airport’s strong air connectivity to more than 380 cities worldwide, Singapore is well-positioned to capitalise on this growth opportunity and bring more fly-cruise traffic here, serving as a cruise hub for the region.’
Lim Ching Kiat, managing director, Airhub Development, Changi Airport Group said Changi airport has capacity for 82m passengers a year at Terminals 1-4 with a fifth terminal now being planned. He said the three year partnership will help to boost air traffic, particularly from India, China, Indonesia and Australia, which are major source markets for fly cruise.
Dream Cruises’ president Thatcher Brown said Genting Dream’s latest homeport is a good place to tap into the fly cruise market. ‘There’s more work we can do in that space. We see a lot of growth coming out of Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar,’ he told Seatrade.
‘There are also significant volumes flying out from India and Dream Cruises continues to leverage on the networks it has developed there. Given the increasing connectivity and GDP growth in region, we see positive momentum,’ he added.
Genting Dream’s itineraries includes ports of call in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand with 2-night and 5-night cruises including Kuala Lumpur - Penang - Phuket and the launch of a brand new cruise to Surabaya - North Bali.
‘The ASEAN footprint allows for fantastic itineraries,’ Brown said. Macleod islands in Myanmar, for instance, is new on Genting vessels’ itineraries. Another Genting vessel, SuperStar Libra has been there as a pathfinder and Genting Dream will make one call there.
Referring to visible improvements to service and facilities onboard the one year old vessel, Brown said ‘we learn and adjust’.
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