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  Straits Times 7 Jul 07
Build second cruise centre here soon, operators urge
STB: Feasibility studies being done at likely Marina South site
By Lim Wei Chean

Business Times 7 Jul 07
Operator urges new S'pore cruise terminal
By Donald Urquhart

Channel NewsAsia 6 Jul 07
STB wants to have new cruise terminal in Marina South soon

SINGAPORE: Singapore Tourism Board said it wants to have a new cruise terminal at the Marina South Pier site as soon as possible, but there are still issues to be worked out.

The comment came as international cruise liner Royal Caribbean, which is the latest big player to set sail in Singapore, opened its regional headquarters here on Friday.

The cruise liner is seeking to grow its presence in Asia and said Singapore is within easy reach of major regional destinations like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Adam Goldstein, President, Royal Caribbean International, said: "It's very well-situated in terms of destinations. It's also well-situated for us in terms of our reach into India, China, Australia and New Zealand. That's why it will be our regional headquarters."

Royal Caribbean is deploying 'Rhapsody of the Seas', which will be the largest cruise ship so far to ply Asian routes, here in December. It expects the number of cruise passengers in Asia to grow to 1.5 million by 2010, a jump of more than 40 percent from 2005.

Royal Caribbean said it would be running its Asia Pacific call centre operations out of the Singapore office because it has similar a time zone with most of its targeted market in the region.

With more cruise companies and ships looking to set up base here, Singapore Tourism Board said it would like to expand its berth capacity as soon as possible.

Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and CEO, Singapore Tourism Board, said: "Right now, with the two cruise terminals, there are already instances where the ships have to be deployed to PSA berths. So it's really not the best state of affair.

"From the STB standpoint, we'll like to do it as soon as we can. But obviously you can't rush it. You have to do proper studies and that's where we are right now."

The Tourism Board said there are still many issues to iron out because the Marina South site is on reclaimed land.

The Singapore Cruise Centre is seeking to be a major cruise hub in the region. It received 850,000 passengers last year and expects the number to hit 1.2 million by 2010.

Business Times 7 Jul 07
Operator urges new S'pore cruise terminal
By Donald Urquhart

(SINGAPORE) A new cruise terminal is urgently needed for Singapore, the boss of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) said yesterday as the world's second largest cruise-line operator opened its Asia-Pacific headquarters here.

Most of today's new giant cruise liners are not able to call at the present Singapore Cruise Centre (SCC), which was built when ships were smaller, said Royal Caribbean's president and chief executive, Adam Goldstein.

Mr Goldstein has made the call for a new terminal before, and there are official feasibility studies being conducted into establishing a second cruise terminal at Marina South.

Yesterday's official opening of Royal Caribbean's new offices will be followed in December with the arrival of the largest cruise liner in the region, Rhapsody of the Seas, which will have Singapore as its home port.

Although Royal Caribbean has been represented in Singapore as a company for 17 years, it has been five years since any of its ships has used Singapore as a home port. The 2,400-passenger Rhapsody will offer cruises lasting from two to 12 days over various routes.

'From a geographic and business standpoint we feel Singapore presents the best balance of our overall interests,' said Mr Goldstein. He was present for the official opening of his company's regional headquarters, following the opening of the company's new representative office in Shanghai.

'Of course the emergence of the China market as a potentially very lucrative and powerful tourism market is extremely interesting to us, but by being here in Singapore we want to send the message that our interests are even broader than the China market,' he said.

He also said the opening of the two integrated resorts starting from 2009 will also help boost the cruise industry here. Royal Caribbean is world No 2 in the cruise business.

Mr Goldstein said that it was visionary of Singapore when, 20 years ago it was the first port in the region to understand the potential of the cruise industry, and built the region's first dedicated cruise terminal, which made it 'way ahead of the game'.

Mr Goldstein added: 'It is clearly time in our estimation for Singapore to execute the next step in infrastructure development for the cruise sector.'

This, he said will enable Singapore to foster additional growth, retain its position as a cruising hub in the region and be in a leadership position.

'I expect that Singapore will do the right thing, and look forward to having our ships at a new cruise terminal in due course. In the meantime, we're happy to have Rhapsody of the Seas at the SCC and we're quite confident we can be successful there.'

Speaking to the press after the official ceremony, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) deputy chairman and chief executive Lim Neo Chian said feasibility studies into what was a 'fairly big, complex project' to build a second cruise terminal at Marina South were still ongoing.

He said: 'We want it done as soon as possible.'

Mr Lim also said 'it's not really the best state of affairs' that some cruise ships have to berth at PSA Corporation's container terminals because they are too large for the existing cruise centre.

'From the STB's standpoint we would like to do it as soon as we can, but obviously you can't rush too much, you need to do proper studies,' he said.

He added that among the various agencies involved 'there's a strong desire to make it happen'.

The STB wants to see 1.5 million cruise line passengers a year by 2015 - from Royal Caribbean and others. Last year there were 850,000 passengers, up from 620,000 in 2005.

Travel trade experts are projecting the number of cruise passengers in the Asia-Pacific region to grow by more than 40 per cent from 1.07 million in 2005 to 1.5 million by 2010.

Mr Lim said the STB is working with Royal Caribbean to bring two more ships to join the Rhapsody next year in using Singapore as their home port.

Straits Times 7 Jul 07
Build second cruise centre here soon, operators urge
STB: Feasibility studies being done at likely Marina South site
By Lim Wei Chean

TO MAINTAIN its position as the regional cruise hub, Singapore must start building its second cruise centre soon. This was urged by Royal Caribbean International president Adam Goldstein, when he opened his company's regional headquarters in Ocean Towers yesterday.

'Singapore was the first in the region to understand the potential of the industry...it is clearly time for Singapore to execute the next step of its infrastructure development.'

His call was echoed by Star Cruises, which has been operating in Singapore for 14 years. Its spokesman too told The Straits Times that it is past time for Singapore's second cruise centre to be built.

There were occasions when available berths fell 'short of demand', its spokesman said, adding: 'With the current facilities, there are insufficient holding areas for embarking, disembarking and baggage handling.'

Singapore Cruise Centre president Cheong Teow Cheng agreed that there were some problems with overcrowding on weekends.

Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) deputy chairman and chief executive Lim Neo Chian told reporters at Royal Caribbean's office opening that it is yet to make a decision.

But there is 'certainly a strong desire' to have a second cruise terminal and 'studies are still being done' at the likely Marina South site to see if such a terminal there would be feasible.

He said: 'From STB's standpoint, we'll like to do it as soon as we can. But you have to do proper studies, and that is where we are at.'

When asked if a decision has been made on having a night Formula One race, he said that was not his call. But he guessed that an announcement should be made in the 'next few months'.

Mr Lim's immediate concern is rising hotel room rates. But he noted that Singapore's rates are still lower than those in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The bright spot was that higher rates encourage hotel investments.

He said Royal Caribbean's presence in Singapore will help the nation achieve its 2015 target of 17 million visitors spending $30 billion here. He felt the integrated resorts opening in 2010 could push these numbers up.

Mr Goldstein said Royal Caribbean's office in Singapore was a strong signal of its regional commitment. Its rival in the big league cruise business is Carnival Corporation, which includes Cunard in its stable.

Royal Caribbean is the second international cruise operator to come here this year, after Silverseas Cruises opened its regional office in January.

The Raffles Place office of Royal Caribbean will oversee the regional marketing for its three brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises. The ship it will deploy for this region, the Rhapsody of the Seas, will arrive in Singapore on Dec 10. It is the largest cruise ship to call in Asia, with a capacity for 2,435 passengers.

For now, none of Asia's ports can take anything bigger, including the new-generation ships being built.

The Rhapsody will likely make trips to Japan, South Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand. Each sailing season is expected to see between 40,000 and 50,000 passengers.

Mr Goldstein said any further plans will hinge on Rhapsody's Asian debut. He agreed that the potential of Asia, with markets like China and India, is vast.
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