Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific Returns to Hong Kong

Part 2

InnovationHongKong|innovationasia’s second day at Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific,attending afternoon sessions that were just as engaging as the previous day.

Asian Market

The conference afternoon session started off with a panel entitled, “How to Begin or Revamp a Cruise Line for the Asian Market.” It featured some industry experts – Anthony Kaufman from Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. (MOL), Raymond Lim from Resorts World Cruises, Stephen Spendlove from V Ships Leisure, and Jasem Zaiton from GAC Group Holdings. The discussion was moderated by Ted Blamey, CHART (a well known cruise consultancy) who posed thought-provoking questions to the panellists.

Anthony Kauffman, Mitsui OSK Lines provided welcome news that the upcoming revamped cruise ship brand would be venturing into additional markets in Southeast Asia, expanding beyond Japan. Resorts World Cruises held a competitive advantage following Covid 19 as the first to offer revamped cruises from both Singapore and Hong Kong.

Jasem Saiton, well-versed in the APAC area, emphasized the significance of Southeast Asia and the potential to connect more Middle Eastern ports in future. Whether updating ships or partnering & chartering established brands as potential solutions for re-entering the market was also raised and, Stephen Spendlove provided some important insights in this area.

China market

A little schedule change saw Madame Hong Wang of the China Europe International Business School addressing the attentive audience in Mandarin on the state of the cruise industry in China. Earphones were at hand for the majority to listen to her engaging report on developments in China translated into English. An official book presentation to Seatrade Cruise (Madame Hong Wang being the Editor of the two books) followed with many photos and meeting attendees.

Ted Blamey delivered a comprehensive presentation on the China market as a segue to the next panel session entitled “The China Effect.” With the recent lifting of restrictions and return of cruising to the China market in 2024, he examined the significant growth that had occurred in the industry and its aftermath.

This growth was reflected in the construction of numerous cruise terminals along the Coast of Mainland China, with Shanghai emerging as the primary cruise homeport in East Asia.With increased ports and terminals,China rose to become the second-largest source market globally at that time. Additionally, Chinese cruises also ventured internationally to destinations in South Korea such as Jeju Island, Busan, as well as Fukuoka, and Nagasaki in Japan until a government-mandated ban on group travel to South Korea was imposed in March 2017.

Change in ownership and rebranding|newbuilds

Ted also covered the aspect of change in ownership with some cruise ships during this period. Examples included the former P&O Oriana being renamed to “Piano Land”. It began cruising in 2019 however, was suspended with Covid 19. The former Sea Princess which was sold and renamed MS Dream -with no cruise plans yet announced and, Chinese Adora operating the former Costa Mediterranea, which started operating in the fourth quarter 2023. He noted that Tor Hgen, Chairman of Viking has planned ten more new ocean builds by 2030, so an increasing growth curve in the new build market as well.

Deploying international brands to Asia

Following the setbacks and restrictions on China’s international travel market and restrictions on destinations in China’s homeports, Ted Blamey summarized the situation well. “If this does not change and there is no robust demand from China for 2024 onwards, the international ships would be hard to deploy to East Asia” he surmised.With the lifting of Covid restrictions in August 2023 however, the cruise industry is expected to recover.

Following his informative slide presentation we heard further insights from a panel session with Helen Huang, President, Greater China, MSC Cruises, Dr. Zinan Liu, Senior Vice President & Chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Asia, and Sharon Yuen, Director, North and North-eastern China, Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Itinerary Planning

“Hear from the Itinerary Planners Navigating Tomorrow” was the final session of the afternoon. Seatrade Cruise Review & News editor|Video Production Editor, Holly Payne, led an interesting discussion with Justin Poulsen, VP of Itinerary Planning and Destination Development at Silversea, and Marcus Puttich, Director of Destinations at TUI Cruises.

The conversation delved into the future plans and progress of port development.Marcus Puttich expressed strong optimism about the passenger demand from the German market for more destinations like Thailand and expansion to other ports in Southeast Asia in future for their specialty cruise brands.

Meanwhile, Justin Poulsen stressed the importance of working closely with local markets to develop new destinations. Upon Holly’s request- as an example of a new destination on itineraries with Silversea (for those who were unable to attend his session the day before) -he explained the success story with Mornington Island. Also as pioneers in re-entering Hong Kong after its reopening, he noted that Silversea continues to spark interest with luxury cruising in Asia.

This final session marked the end of a well planned conference programme for this year. Attendees then headed off to the Wine & Dine Food Festival courtesy of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB). Congratulations to Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific and their collaborators in successfully welcoming back cruise industry professionals to Hong Kong.