Royal Caribbean International has signed its first multi-million dollar marketing collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) to promote cruising out of Singapore and, in turn, attract the cruise line’s ‘largest number of overseas fly-cruise guests’ to Singapore.

 

The tripartite collaboration – which runs between 2015 and 2018 – is estimated to pull in over 170,000 overseas visitors to Singapore to sail on Royal Caribbean’s cruises over that period, resulting in a projected growth of over 50%.

 

This is just one of the measures that has been employed by STB to boost visitor numbers in the last two months. In July, Changi Airport, Singapore Airlines and the Singapore Tourism Board announced it would invest S$20m ($14.8m) on a coordinated effort to encourage more visitors to engage in leisure, business and MICE activities.

 

According to CAG, its new partnership with Royal Caribbean, will see it launch marketing campaigns, research studies and channel development activities, such as partnerships with the media and trade.

 

These are due to take place in markets not only within Asia such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, but also beyond the region in Australia, Europe and North America.

 

Royal Caribbean also plans to increase its number of voyages from Singapore during this period to over 40 a year. Currently, the cruise line’s 3,807-guest Mariner of the Seas makes around 30 trips annually.

 

Sean Treacy, Managing Director, Singapore and Southeast Asia of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd said: “Having deployed ships here regularly for the last seven years, Royal Caribbean now looks forward to its next phase of significant growth in Singapore. Our three-year deployment plan is our strongest commitment ever to this market and we see great potential in Singapore as a source market and regional cruise hub.”

 

Projected to generate over $100m in tourism receipts, the collaboration with Royal Caribbean contributes substantially to Singapore’s cruise industry, with an estimated compounded annual growth of 5-8% in throughput over the next 3-4 years.

 

“With the cruise industry already generating more than $500m in direct spending in 2013, this development promises a further injection of significant economic impact into Singapore,” says CAG.=