Royal Caribbean set sails on Malaysia’s rising cruise tide

Symphony of the Seas will be launched in April and a healthy number of

forward bookings have been made by Malaysian travellers

Malaysia is the fastest-growing Asian market for Royal Caribbean Cruises, with 2017 growth rates double that of 2016, driven by increasing number of ship calls and passengers.

Sean Treacy, Royal Caribbean Cruises managing director, Asia-Pacific, described 2017 as a “record year of sales for Malaysia” to agents and media in Kuala Lumpur during a recent Chinese New Year dinner it hosted at The St Regis Kuala Lumpur last week.

He attributed the success to support from agents as well as Royal Caribbean Cruises’ investments in direct marketing to the Malaysian public via broadcast and print media in 2016 and 2017.

He added: “The strong growth was also driven by deployment of three ships in the region – Mariner of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas – which operated their longest-ever season in the region and attracted travellers from Malaysia.”

In the Malaysian market, regional sailings make up the strongest sales for the cruise line.

Meanwhile, forward bookings from Malaysians for Symphony of The Seas – to be launched in April as the world’s largest cruise ship, sailing seven-night cruises around the Mediterranean – also showed strong bookings.

To date, there are more than 700 passenger bookings from Malaysia, more than triple the market’s bookings for the Harmony of the Seas, which was launched in Barcelona in 2016 offering the same itinerary as Symphony Of The Seas.

Royal Caribbean Cruises and Penang Port are also in a joint venture to upgrade and improve Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal in George Town, Penang, to accommodate the berthing of two mega cruise liners at any one time. The project, which has yet to start, will see the expansion of the cruise terminal berth to 700m from the current 480m.

-TTG Asia.