With the debut of Resorts World Cruises’ first sailing on 15 June 2022 from Singapore, the response from the Indian outbound cruise tourism via the Fly-Cruise segment has been very positive and encouraging. Within the first 2 months of bookings opened, we had secured over 20,000 cabins from India, signalling a healthy and thriving Fly-Cruise market, Naresh Rawal, Vice President – Sales & Marketing (India), Resorts World Cruises, informs.
Rawal opines that the MICE segment is gaining strong traction. “We are optimistic that the MICE segment will further contribute towards the growth of the overall Fly-Cruise market in the coming months,” he adds.
Talking on the regaining the trust of the cruise holidayers, Rawal says that creating ongoing awareness and educating both travel partners and consumers are essential in regaining the confidence of holiday makers. “The pandemic has shifted the mindset of travellers with the focus on safety and well-being, which is clearly reflected in cruise lines these days. At Resorts World Cruises, we have the affiliated experiences in successfully operating safe cruises in the region and we are applying these measures and expertise on our ship,” he says.
Responding to a question over cruise segment coming back on the pre-pandemic level, Rawal says it will take some time for numbers to reach pre-pandemic days, but we can be very hopeful and optimistic, as the interest and bookings signified a strong and positive comeback. “It’s important that we continue to work closely with our travel partners to educate consumers on the benefits, value and safety of cruising to further grow the Fly-Cruise market,” he suggests adding that educating and creating awareness among travel agents are equally crucial to gradually change their perception on selling cruises.
“At Resorts World Cruises, we are constantly engaging and exploring new opportunities with new travel agents to identify and expand options to get them involved and interested, to be part of the growing potential of the cruise tourism industry,” he adds.
Recently, Resorts World Cruises launched its dual homeports in Singapore with the addition of Kuala Lumpur (via Port Klang) in Malaysia. Fly-Cruise travellers from India will now have more options to either embark from any one of these popular cities to experience the 2Nights and 3 Nights cruises to Singapore and other popular destinations in Malaysia.
Besides that, Resorts World Cruises – ‘Resorts Cruising at Sea’, has reimagined its cruise offerings to elevate its guests’ cruise experience to a new and different level, redefining personalized cruise lifestyle experience with diverse international offerings on ship and shore.
In addition, the cruiseliner had also introduced a new concept of combining entertainment and dining experiences. “The Genting Dream is also the world’s first OIC/SMIIC standard Halal-friendly cruise ship, which offers Halal and authentic Jain Vegetarian certified cuisines in dedicated venues,” he says.
Resorts World Cruises is regularly organising FAM trips for travel partners and media to enable them to experience cruising first-hand. This personal experience is important and one of the best ways for them to promote cruising effectively, he adds.
As a homegrown Asian luxury brand, Resorts World Cruises caters to a wide spectrum of segments from mid-market onwards to luxury and super luxury. “For instance, in terms of accommodations on board, we offer a range of choices from inter-state to oceanview and balcony staterooms. On top of that, the luxury The Palace – ‘A ship-within-a-ship’ private enclave with exclusive amenities will continue to be a popular choice of accommodation for many luxury travellers from India. At Resorts World Cruises, we aim to cater to different segments with the goal of achieving optimum operations for the ship, Rawal says.
By Kuhelika Roy Chowdhury
