Northstar

4 | www.travelweekly-asia.com INDUSTRY VOICES Peter Kollar is a strong voice in the cruise industry, designing educational programmes on behalf of CLIA. Peter also has more than 20 years of experience in various onboard roles, such as servicing guests, training crew facilitating and managing the logistical complexity of cruise shore excursions in over 100 countries. Educating Asia Much like the dynamics of the cruise industry itself, our education, training and resources have evolved over the past 10 years to unprecedented levels of quality, content and engagement. Globalisation of the cruise industry has introduced new source markets to our sector, as well as new audiences that need help — and we (collectively as CLIA and the Cruise Lines) realise that all our work is just the beginning of a global cruise education evolution that is paramount to continued growth of our sector. New markets, such as China, India and Southeast Asia, are at elementary levels of cruise industry, and a tailored approach to content and delivery is necessary. Yet, adding to the complexity are the cultural differences and various business models in place. Therefore, travel agents need to be well educated and able to connect their clients with the right product. To begin, we have noticed in other markets, particularly in Australia, which was much like these new markets 15–20 years ago, where a majority of agents were reluctant to learn and sell cruise products, or they didn't see the demand. Now every single agent across Australia and New Zealand has some form of cruise education, and one in 18 Australians cruise every year, which is by far the highest penetration rate of all markets around the world. The message is clear for Asia: cruising is picking up steam. Ship deployment rates in the region are at unprecedented levels, local government support is strong due to the potential economic impact cruising brings. With social media driving the awareness, the opportunity of an international journey with the ease and price of domestic travel extrapolates to new levels of demand. The danger is if these ships leave the shores not at capacity, which strongly diminishes cruise lines' regional investment. This can be disastrous considering the fact that current strong cruise markets across the globe have developed from their close-to-home/domestic cruise portfolios. The next challenge is educating business owners and managers. This is a major problem in India and China. Although many business owners do align with certain cruise lines for free online training or even welcome a cruise representative to teach their staff, there is room for improvement. Having leaders invest in a broader cruise industry programme is often met with skepticism, whether from a price point that could be overcome by a single commission return, or from a cultural belief their newly skilled employee is stronger and more confident to venture independently. Aside from the cultural elements, evolution in technology and delivery also need to continue, with new platforms like WeChat for China, Virtual Reality tools that overcome translation issues, and other local resource needs for each market, all of which we are working on. The challenge remains ahead of us, though it is one we are excited about and embracing. CONTENTS 3 TALKING POINT An epiphany in a Sydney cafe 6 TECH TALKING NDC: what's in it for travel agents? 12 IN FOCUS Thailand's masterplan for 2019 and beyond 19 CRUISE A change of command in the Royal Caribbean family 27 BEST OF GLOBAL WRAP The best of the news across Asia Pacific Above: Dream Cruises have a few luxury tricks up its sleeves in 2019 14 23 22 Below: Crystal Cruises' Crystal Mozart, seen here sailing down Danube in Budapest, will spot many luxury services come 2019 Below: Macau's very-own Apple store — one of the many attractions along its iconic Cotai Strip

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