The outbound numbers in the cruise segment from the South Asia market, especially from India, is expected to grow exponentially as cruise ships become more accessible and packages become affordable to customers, said Gavin Smith, Regional Vice President – Asia Pacific , Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Interacting with the media in the national capital recently, Smith said that the Indian cruise market is expected to grow from the current one lakh cruisers per annum to about three lakh in the next five years.
Smith said that Indians generally travel to North America and Europe to for cruise voyages, making it a costly affair. “If we can improve the accessibility of cruise ships to the market so that they need not travel to North America and Europe to access them, and if can deliver an appealing port density so that they can get multiple countries and multiple ports, we’ll have a formula for success in any given market,” he said.
Royal Caribbean enjoys the right advantage from an Indian cruiser’s standpoint as the company has the largest concentration of cruise ships based out of Singapore, Smith said. Royal Caribbean is the largest cruise operator in Asia Pacific, he added. “Majority of our activities are based out of Singapore and has the highest capacity out of Singapore,” he said.
Smith said that it was important to work with tour operators, hotels and airlines to create dynamic packages with the component of cruising so that the packages on the whole sound affordable, and thus attractive to customers. Citing the success of competing cruise operators, Smith said that Royal Caribbean has to enhance the relevance and improve “activities with key tour operators” who send groups to South East Asia so that cruising can also be included in the travel itineraries.
Commenting on the diverse cruise products on offer, Smith said that while Azamara Club Cruises is an upscale luxury product, Celebrity Cruises is a premium product. Compared to these two, Royal Caribbean is a mass market product, he said. “The company’s ships are large with diverse accommodation offerings. Royal Caribbean is an active brand relevant for the family market,” he added. Smith expects the growth from the Indian cruise market to be driven by the Royal Caribbean.
When asked about bringing ships to Indian ports, Smith said that the current size of the local market would not make it viable for cruise ship operators to call at Indian ports. “Local deployment can come only with growth. Once that growth is achieved, ship operators will have the confidence to put a ship here (India),” he added.
Commenting on the challenges before the industry globally, Smith said that the most glaring challenge is lack of port infrastructure, especially when it comes to longer, 320-mtr cruise ships. Indian ports, he said, are not equipped to accommodate cruise ships longer than 200-220 mtr, he said.
South Asian cruise market to grow with better product accessibility: Gavin Smith
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