Cruise tourism is now different from what people to used to preceive. The followings are revealed:
Mainland China As The Dominant Asian Source Market
Based on the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)‘s 2018 report, mainland China continues to dominate the Asian source markets, accounting for 55.8% of all Asian passenger volume in 2018. What’s more, more than 50% (2,194K) of Asian cruise passengers predominantly cruise in Asia are cruising from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan!
Increasing Number Of Ships In Asia
The 2019 report of CLIA revealed that the number of cruise ship sailing in Asia waters grew 58% since 2014. The planned itineraries of 1917 sailings will generate capacity for 4.02 million passengers to cruise in Asia in 2019. For this reason, we can anticipate that the demand for better infrastructure will also increase. Transportation to cruise terminal will need to be enhanced. Bigger and bigger terminals will be built to accommodate more ships and passengers.
Younger Cruise Passengers
The CLIA‘s 2018 report showed that in 2019 Asian cruise passengers are found younger when compared to both 2016 and 2017. The average age for Asian cruisers is 45.4 years old in 2018 while it is 45.6 in 2017 and 46.1 in 2016. Two markets record young years average: India market, young 37 years average is found while Indonesia market, young 39 years average is found.
Gambling As A Strong Motivation For Mainland Chinese Passengers
The China laws prohibit Mainland Chinese to gamble in China. Gibson (2012) mentioned that one of the elements of motivation was “Travel is a purpose to what is lacking yet desired“. When the cruise ships are 12 miles away from the land of Mainland China, casinos can be opened for cruisers to gamble. In order to gamble, Mainland Chinese would pay for a cruise vacation in the high seas. Even for my cruise experience with World Dream Cruise, I actually saw there were quite a lot of Hong Kongers gambling on the cruise ship.
Typhoon During Summer High Season
Summer in Asia is the high season for the tourism and cruise industry. But in fact, summer is also the season for typhoon in Asia. Cruise Companies in Asia are frequently facing this challenge, or risk, I would say. To tackle the complaint and dissatisfaction caused by typhoon, as well as the loss of revenue, cruise companies have to be aware of the risk management.
Challenging Work Environment Onboard
Even though the World Dream Cruise I was cruising with is under the Chinese cruise company Genting Cruise Lines, different nationals were hired for working on the cruise ship. During my cruise with World Dream Cruise, I encountered cruise staff originated from Mainland China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc., as well as international staff for the production shows. It’s always challenging to work with people with different languages and culture background from different countries! Therefore, standard operation procedures are required onboard.
My Travel Journey - Zoe's Blog 