The
3rd Seatrade All Asia Cruise Convention opened its doors, bringing
together cruise
lines, destinations and industry suppliers to discuss
the way forward for Asia’s developing cruise market.
Widespread
investment in ports and infrastructure has translated into heightened
confidence in Asia’s commitment to developing as a world-class
cruise destination and source market.
Over
350 delegates took their seats for the opening session of the
conference, with an impressive line up of top industry executives,
who came together to discuss Asia’s significant growth within the
cruise industry, its value as a source market, its popularity as a
destination and its future opportunities and challenges.
During
the ‘The State of the Cruise Industry in Asia’ session Chris
Hayman, Chairman, Seatrade commented “Some 200,000 Chinese sailed
from domestic ports in 2011 - a number expected to grow to 250,000
this year - and an additional 30,000 to 50,000 took fly-cruises to
other destinations worldwide.”
The
Asia Cruise Association’s Chairman Zinan Liu described China as a
high risk/high return market, saying: “China is more a venture
capital asset rather than blue chip.” Asia as a
source market is still untapped, with a penetration rate of less than
0.1% compared to 3.3% in the US. China, in Liu’s view, presents the
region’s most promising market.
Carnival
Australia CEO Ann Sherry acknowledged the obvious commitment and
support for the cruise industry in Shanghai and noted cruise brands
have become increasingly active across the Asia-Pacific region with
‘holistic’ developments such as large-scale port infrastructure
investment and procurement.
Sharing
the experience of the
Pacific market, which Sherry described as the
world’s fastest growing cruise market, she said this benefits Asia
because ships transit there seasonally.
Royal
Caribbean International’s Lisa Bauer, EVP Global Sales
and Marketing, credited the Chinese government for the
‘Progress, Prospects and Potential’ which are the conference's
themes. She went on to emphasise that China offerscruise lines a
unique opportunity to grow, and that the way to this growth is
through knowledgeable, well-educatedtravel
agents using good technology.
Bauer’s
biggest concern is the widening gap between terminals and
destinations, with the latter not currently keeping up. She said the
industry needs to get together to identify ports and destinations
people want to visit then tackle how to ensure they have a great
experience.
William
Ng, COO, Star Cruises, said it was encouraging that last year,
more than 20m people cruised worldwide, a figure projected to grow to
23m in 2015. At the moment, Asia accounts for less than 10% of the
total.
"You
can imagine that the potential is going to be huge. And
international cruise lines are gearing up for a piece of
the action," he said. The rising number of ships sailing in from
the international players shows confidence in the region’s
potential.
"Asians
are becoming a key source market for cruise
ships in the region and worldwide," Ng said.
He noted more than 57m Chinese people travelled abroad in 2010,
spending a total of US$55bn, and the World Tourism Organization
estimates the total number of outbound tourists from China will reach
100m by 2020. Cruise
travel, however, is still relatively small in China.
The
conference will continue throughout Friday 28th September and will
discuss Asia’s new entrants to the cruise business; shipbuilding
and refurbishment in Asia and the role of Asian yards; operational
challenges for the industry in Asia; and Asia’s river
cruise and river boat tourism.
Running
alongside the conference is a two-day travel
agent training programme, which provides local
Chinese travel agents with valuable information on selling
cruise products. Parallel to the conference and travel
agent training sessions is the showcase exhibition featuring
over 40 organisations from within Asia and around the world,
representing cruise lines, cruise ports and destinations,
shipbuilders, food and beverage companies and many more.
The
3rd Seatrade All Asia Cruise Convention has been organised by
Seatrade in association with Shanghai Municipal
Tourism Administration,
Shanghai Municipal Hongkou District People’s Government, Shanghai
International Port Group Ltd. It is sponsored by Costa Crociere,
Germanishcher Lloyd SE and Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
The Asia Cruise Association, Asia Cruise Terminal Association,
Passenger Shipping Association, Shanghai International Conference
Management Organisation, Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port
Authority and Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal have
supported the event.