From August 1, Jacqueline Ng, an STB veteran with vast experience in MICE and marketing, is taking on the role of cruise director vacated by Chang although the two will work closely on transitioning in the coming one to two months.
During her tenure at STB, Chang has played an instrumental role in significant milestones for cruising’s development both in Singapore, Southeast Asia and globally.
Milestones
‘It’s been an adventure exploring the Marina Bay Cruise Centre in its building days in 2011 (hard hats and yellow boots), the appointment of SATS-Creuers as the terminal operator of the MBCCS and forging new partnerships with both terminal operators (including Singapore Cruise Centre) to grow the industry together for Singapore,’ noted Chang in a written comunications to industry colleagues.
For over a decade Chang has been a driver of dialogue on annual ASEAN Tourism Forums, on platforms persuading regional governments on the importance of cruise tourism, and at cruise industry conferences, both locally and afar. She recently participated at the Seatrade Cruise Global 2022 in Miami, on a panel looking at cruising’s restart in Asia.
COVID
Chang reflected on the last couple of years: ‘COVID-19 hit us hard, but the trust we had built over the decades saw us through the challenging times. We rose to the occasion. From ensuring the last few ships like Costa Fortuna and Norwegian Jade could debark their passengers promptly before borders closed, to granting urgent assistance to our homeported ships Quantum of the Seas and Genting Dream, we “panicked” our way through it all.’
Chang added, ‘Facing unprecedented times, we implemented processes to assist in the humanitarian effort to sign-off over 1,000 crew to grant them a passage home, and became the world’s first to swiftly stand-up Ops CruiseDorms with Superstar Gemini and Superstar Aquarius.
‘In less than two weeks, we stood up an entire ground and ship ops in response to a national call to provide alternative accommodation for recovered COVID patients onboard cruise ships. As a result, we housed over 8,000 foreign workers comfortably whilst Singapore battled with the COVID-19 outbreak.
‘I look back at those times and am amazed at how we all pulled through. The ingredients were gumption, resilience, a strong heart and a dash of craziness,’ said Chang.
Silver linings
Looking for silver linings from COVID, Chang said it enabled the industry to win over new fans of cruising, especially the first-timers. ‘Pre-COVID, we had actively promoted cruising in Singapore and many part of the world, but COVID ended up winning the converts that we could not reach.’
Chang stated, ‘We are now entering a new chapter for cruising in Singapore, welcoming more ships in the latter part of this year.‘
She finished by thanking the many industry stakeholders around the world who have become friends and said, ‘I may no longer be leading the industry in Singapore, but you can be sure that I will forever be a cruise advocate,’ and she reminded that even in her new role she is excited as cruising continues to be ‘relevant feature.'
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited.
Add Seatrade Cruise News to your Google News feed.  |
