SINGAPORE, 6 March 2018: Singapore Tourism Board and Cruise Lines International Association have inked a new three-year partnership, this week, that aims to boost cruising in Southeast Asia.
STB and CLIA will undertake travel agent training, augment destination marketing efforts, spur regional port development and exchange technical and regulatory best practices.
The three-year partnership marks CLIA’s first collaboration with a national tourism organisation in the Asia-Pacific region.
It comes at a time when cruising in Southeast Asia, home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies, is picking up steam. CLIA’s most recent Asia Cruise trends [1] reported that Southeast Asia contributed close to 15% of Asia’s passengers.
“As Southeast Asia’s cruise industry is still in a nascent stage of growth, this partnership draws on CLIA’s expertise, networks and platforms, as well as STB’s strong understanding of regional travel trade and market nuances, to shape and spur growth in this region,” said STB’s chief executive Lionel Yeo. “We look forward to working closely with CLIA to develop Southeast Asia as a vibrant cruising destination,.”
In the first year of the partnership, STB and CLIA will conduct travel agent training in priority cruise markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
With the majority of cruise bookings made through travel agents, these training sessions aim to enhance travel agents’ cruise sales skills overall and knowledge of Southeast Asia cruises, in particular.
The partnership will leverage CLIA’s professional training capabilities and STB’s travel trade networks in the region.
1 Source: CLIA’s Asia Cruise Trends 2017 study at https://www.cruising.org/about-the- industry/research/asia-cruise-trends-2017
