SINGAPORE LEADS THE CRUISES IN ASIA

Singapore is the country with the highest scheduled cruise stopovers in 2019 throughout Asia, totaling 400, of which 306 are also homeport stops, multiplying the economic impact for the destination.

The leading position regarding cruises in Asia is explained in this year’s market study released by CLIA. The number of passengers expected to visit Singapore will reach almost 1 million this year, 991,000 specifically, of which 831,000 will be turnaround cruises (home port). The total number of stopovers represents a 7% increase compared to 2018, and a change in trend compared to last year when the figure fell 5%.

Since 2013, cruise ship travel has registered a sustained growth since that year, when 289 stopovers were recorded.

Regarding the number of stopovers, Singapore is followed by the ports of Keelung and Taipei (Taiwan), and Baoshan and Shanghai (China).

According to the study, the boom of cruises in Asia, which has been seen at both outbound and inbound level, shows signs of a slowdown this year, with 5.7% less capacity than the previous year, although the number of cruise ships remains the same.

This change in trend is mainly explained by the drop in the number of scheduled trips for short cruises coming from mainland China. However, in 2019, a total of 39 cruise lines are operating in Asian waters with 79 ships, a similar figure to that of 2018 with just small changes in ship sizes.

Top 10 Cruise Ports: Scheduled Port Call in 2019