Multi-million dollar partnership announced for Singapore’s fly-cruise market

SINGAPORE — Royal Caribbean International has entered a second multi-million dollar marketing partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board and Changi Airport Group. This partnership hopes to encourage overseas visitors to Singapore to cruise out of Singapore on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas and Voyager of 
the Seas.

Visitors who fly in to embark on a cruise, known as fly-cruise guests, are an important segment of Singapore tourism, said Annie Chang, Singapore Tourism Board’s director of cruise.

Last year, Singapore’s tourism arrivals had a good showing, she said.

“For cruises, we (saw) a 16 per cent increase in passenger throughput and a 7 per cent increase in ship calls. And Royal Caribbean is no insignificant contributor to that growth.”

The Singapore Tourism Board expects this new partnership to generate over S$26 million in tourism dollars and 45,000 overseas fly-cruise guests on the two ships from March to June.

The first partnership has been in place since Aug 2015 with Mariner of the Seas, and is projected to bring in over 170,000 overseas fly-cruise visitors to Singapore over three years.

Its encouraging results thus far have motivated this second collaboration, said Sean Treacy, managing director in Asia Pacific of Royal Caribbean Cruises.

“The first year’s efforts have seen us surpass the annual visitor target by over 40 per cent. This is in part thanks to Singapore’s strong air connectivity,” he said.

“Working together, Singapore is placed to effectively tap into flight-cruise traffic and serve as a cruise hub for the region,” he added.

Peh Ke-Wei, Changi Airport Group’s vice president of passenger development, noted that “the fly-cruise segment is one with huge growth potential.”

Ovation of the Seas arrived for her inaugural season in Singapore today (March 6) and will make more than 10 sailings. According to Royal Caribbean, more than half of the bookings have come from 
overseas.

Chang noted that the cruise industry continues to grow and that while “the domestic market in Singapore is significant, (it) needs to be augmented”.

“What is good for Singapore when it comes to cruise tourism is the fact that when passengers come to Singapore, they do not only come for the cruise; they do pre- and post-cruise stays. And so this is a good orientation for them on Singapore as a destination and then subsequently to encourage repeat visitorship,” she said. 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said that there was a 60 per cent increase in passenger throughput in cruises. The article has been amended to reflect the correct figure of 16 per cent.