Cruise industry leaders delve into the future prospects of Asia's cruise market

Tim Jones, VP & MD, Australia & APAC, Celebrity Cruises, Oliviero Morelli, president, Japan, South-Korea, South East Asia cruise division, MSC Group and Tsunemichi Mukai president & CEO, Mitsui Ocean Cruises each shared their respective cruise line’s experience of sailing in Asia, highlighting both challenges and successes, as well as industry predictions at Seatrade Cruise Asia. 

‘Positively challenging’ 

Post-pandemic, ‘things got off to a quicker start in southeast Asia,’ said Jones. ‘We’ve had Celebrity Millennium operating in the region year round [and] operating in Japan for the first time over the summer season has been incredibly successful for us. 

‘Celebrity Solstice… is back, operating between Singapore and Hong Kong as well.

‘We've been really pleased with how the region has responded, certainly for Celebrity Cruises....and from a sourcing guest perspective as well. When you look at the other side of the coin, it's also been incredibly encouraging to see the growth again in Asian travelers, who travel with us all over the world, not necessarily just in this part of the world.’ 

Meanwhile, Morelli noted positive trends in northeast Asia, with new itineraries in Okinawa and Taiwan. Cruises form Shanghai have also returned for MSC. ‘For the southeast Asia market and for Korea, at the moment we're still in a study phase. But for sure, northeast Asia in 2024 has been very, very positively challenging.’ 

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He said MSC’s focus has been on north Asia for the past decade, ‘but now it’s time to shift and focus more South.’ Starting next year, the company will have a new office in Singapore where it will look more closely at the region.

The population of southeast Asia is nearly 700 million, he explained, with a GDP of more than 3 trillion ‘so the possibilities in the region are unique.’ He continued, ‘personally, I'm already in love with the Philippines, and I can see a ship based here in the next two to four years…’ 

Mukai said Mitsui is delving into different destinations in Asia, a region which offers ‘great potential.’ He said the line is also looking at Asia as a source market, next to the Japanese market specifically, where cruise penetration is less than 1%.

Environment 

Environmental concerns and fuel consumption reduction were emphasised, with the panelists calling on ports to upgrade their infrastructure. 

The priorities at Mitsui are three-fold: guest awareness of wastage, with many passengers already opposed to wastage, from food to plastic; sustainable fuel options must be explored; and preventing communities from being ‘overwhelmed,’ which also allows passengers greater enjoyment during shore excursions.   

Related:President of the Philippines attends Seatrade Cruise Asia Welcome Reception

Jones alluded to the drive to reduce fuel consumption and the importance of responsible tourism, stating that when it comes to sustainability, ‘everyone always goes to climate and decarbonisation. It's also about the communities that we operate in, the destinations we visit. It's about being a responsible tourism partner…’  

Morelli said ‘there’s still a lot of medium- to long-term work [to be done] in many many ports.’ He explained that a number of destinations aspire to be a homeport but ‘haven’t done their homework yet.’ 

He later remarked during the discussion, ‘sometimes it's not bad to copy the homework of somebody else. So many ports out there did the job with success… So it's not a bad idea to talk with somebody that already went through the struggle, even to go through the regulations and the cost and the funding, because it's not something that happened overnight. So please, please, please talk to your peers in the other port that already achieved this success and they can show the way.’

Jones said the Philippines is doing ‘an amazing job of being at the forefront of cruise itinerary conversations,’ with new initiatives such as the Philippines Cruise Visa Waiver Program. These are encouraging in order to ‘get people to sit up and pay attention.’

The Philippines

The panel was preceded by a speech from Christina Garcia Frasco, tourism secretary, the Philippines Department of Tourism, who said, ‘we are honoured to be the host nation for Seatrade Cruise Asia 2024,’ while reminding those in the audience of yesterday’s speech by Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., president of the Republic of the Philippines. 

‘Seatrade and Informa Markets’ choice of the Philippines to host this prestigious global event for the very first time speaks volumes of the state of tourism in our country and the boundless potential of cruise across our islands and throughout our region,’ she stated.

Garcia Frasco explained that the Philippines is one of only 18 mega-biodiverse countries in the world and home to 70%-80% of the Earth's species.

‘...Our country has emerged as a leading cruise destination, with 2023 and 2024 marking years of unprecedented growth…’ 

She said that ‘the Philippines is not just a destination. It is an experience.’