Singapore cruise greets Indians

Singapore Tourism Board (STB), along with Resorts World Cruises (RWC) and Royal Caribbean International (RCI), recently organised a webinar on ‘Reimagine Cruising from Singapore’, which updated the travel trade in India about cruising from Singapore and the latest cruise offerings.

Nisha Verma

GB Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, STB, shared that Singapore is welcoming back cruise holidaymakers from India, who can now also enjoy port calls.

Singapore is ready

Highlighting key points, he warmly welcomed back Indian travellers to Singapore. “Under the vaccinated travel framework, travellers from India and across the world are welcome back to enjoy Singapore. Secondly, we have both RCI and RWC providing exciting and varied cruise holiday options. A major development that will make cruising even more attractive for Indian travellers is the return of port calls – to Malaysia by RCI, and to Malaysia and Indonesia by RWC,” he said.

Inviting Singapore’s travel trade partner-friends to bring cruise holidaymakers from India to Singapore, Srithar said, “Prior to Covid-19, India was our top cruise source market. More than 150,000 visitors from India to Singapore were cruise holidaymakers. We are hoping to build back the momentum and bring Indian travellers to Singapore to enjoy their cruise holidays.” He said, “There has been a spike in cruise uptake by India in May and the forward booking of cruises are looking optimistic. We have several big group M&I movement on cruise in the second half of 2022.”

Ease of travel & Cruise protocols

He said that visiting Singapore is “very simple” as there are no flight restrictions or health application requirements. “There are three straightforward steps. First, the travellers need to show vaccination proof if they are born in 2009 or earlier. Second step is to get a visa. Lastly, three days before arrival, they need to submit their SG Arrival Card online. The on-ground experiences are back to near pre-Covid times – masks are not required outdoors, dining in big groups is possible and late night lifestyle and entertainment spots are open for party-goers. To keep visitors safe, masks are still required indoors,” he said.

Srithar revealed that cruise lines have requirements for guests to go for ART test for Covid-19, one calendar day before. “There are many test centres around Singapore, where one can get tested fairly fast and it is affordable. Besides getting tested in Singapore, it can also be done in India through local service providers here,” he said.

Reimagining experiences & cruise offerings

Over the past two years, many of Singapore stakeholders have reimagined new ways of travel experiences, which are New, Unknown Unexpected and Transformative (NUUT). “There are many interesting offerings. These include the immersive Museum of Ice Cream – the themed attraction’s first outlet outside the United States. On Sentosa, there is now Hydrodash (Singapore’s first floating aqua-park) and Cable Car Dining (where one can admire the stunning aerial views of the harbour while dining in a private cable car cabin),” Srithar said.

For visitors looking for new accommodation options, he added that there are also six brand-new hotels in Singapore, ranging from the Hilton Singapore right in the heart of glitzy Orchard Road, to Citadines Connect City Centre, the popular apart-hotel for travelling families in search of more space. He further added, “Singapore has a new and improved line up of cruise experiences. We have got Spectrum of the Seas and Genting Dream. Talks are on with other cruise liners also, who are eager to deploy the ships back to Southeast Asia by the late 2022.”

RCW’s luxurious offerings

Naresh Rawal, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Resorts World Cruises, said that they, along with STB and RCI, are working towards making Singapore as Asia’s leading cruise hub. Sharing that Resorts World Cruises is an extension to the Resorts World brand, he shared, “It is an integrated resort cruising on the high seas. With our flagship Genting Dream from Singapore, we will be offering two-night or three-night cruises. We will start our destination cruises to Malaysia and the first one to visit Indonesia as well. From October, we plan to initiate itineraries to Phuket and Bali too as the borders continue to open.”

Spectrum of the Seas, by Royal Caribbean International

Spectrum of the Seas is newly deployed to Singapore, revealed Varun Chadha, Chief Executive Officer, TIRUN Travel Marketing – India Representative for RCI. “Singapore was the first country that RCI restarted sailing from. It will continue to remain a focus for the cruise line. Currently Spectrum is offering three-

and four-night ocean getaway sailings, every Monday and Thursday. We have restarted sailing to Penang and Port Klang from 30 June. There are also some longer itineraries planned for Q4 and Q1 2023 for five-, seven- and nine-night sailings,” he said.

Cruise & MICE Schemes

STB has designed an array of schemes for the corporate and the agents to take advantage of. Specifically on MICE, “The Business Events in Singapore (BEIS) scheme offers financial support for large corporate groups. Then we have the In Singapore Incentives & Rewards (INSPIRE) programme, which offers an array of extraordinary experiences for smaller groups. There is also Singapore MICE Advantage Programme (SMAP), which offers delegates exclusive privileges islandwide.”

Shedding light on Cruise Development Fund (CDF), he said, “It aims for STB to support travel agents in activities that helps market and promote Singapore as a cruise destination along with the land experiences. The fund will support the agent in the marketing and promotion of fly-cruises, land experiences and even development of on-board themes for the cruisers for up to 80% of the qualifying cost.”