Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1116820
PHOTO/ILLUSTRATION CREDITS: PROKSIMA/GETTY IMAGES; JULIA AUGUST/GETTY IMAGES; AKRAIN/GETTY IMAGES. By now, most would already be familiar with the merits of cruising. Acting almost like micro cities, cruise ships oer a raft of exible venues, accommodation and experiences that can be tailored to the varying sizes and needs of MICE groups. This has helped generate more business from the corporate sector, as reported by the cruise operators. "More MICE groups are discovering the convenience of staging their corporate event on our cruise ships. We observed a strong double digit year-on-year growth for MICE groups from key source markets like Singapore, India, Indonesia and Malaysia," remarked Michael Goh, senior vice president for international sales at Genting Cruise Lines. He added that a key part of the business comes from insurance, pharmaceutical companies and tertiary institutions. Royal Caribbean Cruises' head of sales of the APAC oce, Mona Foo, shared the same bullish outlook with predictions of a 20 to 30% growth in Asia this year, for a business that sees a good mix of industries including MLM, nance, insurance, property, training, technology and education. "The biggest reason is that cruising has an attractive value proposition, which is 30% less than a land-based vacation in general," she explained. But with cruise lines already aggressively pushing their agendas to generate more business from the corporate sector, what and who else does it take to sh for more MICE? Meetings business at sea is slowly gaining traction, but it takes more than just the cruise operators to set off the next wave of demand. WORDS LEE XIN HUI "More MICE groups are discovering the convenience of staging their corporate event on our cruise ships. We observed a strong double digit year-on- year growth for MICE groups from key source markets like Singapore, India, Indonesia and Malaysia." MICHAEL GOH, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL SALES, GENTING CRUISE LINES SALES, GENTING CRUISE LINES 45 MAY-JUN 2019 MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS MCMAG-ASIA.COM