Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1003358
www.travelweekly-asia.com | 5 Transform client service by offering unrivalled rich content and comparability - plus tailored recommendations. To learn more about how you can maximize return on every trip, contact your Travelport representative or visit us at travelport.com/simplify Simplify | Achieve | Tailor | Maximize Simplify travel choice TP15535 244x152 TMC.indd 1 05/06/2018 11:57 DATABANK Major international cruise companies continue to seek new itineraries and introduce new products in a bid to maintain the momentum of 2017 when almost 27 million people across the globe took a cruise. Asia provided 15% of global ocean passengers in 2017 and the challenge for cruise operators is to woo new and returning passengers with ever more exciting adventures. For Carnival Cruise Line, one of the answers is to offer a 2019 cruise of 24 days, the longest in its 46-year history. The transpacific cruise aboard the Carnival Splendor will visit Guam; Kota Kinabalu and Ho Chi Minh City - the first time the line has visited these destinations on a ship departing from North America. It will arrive in Singapore on October 30. Carnival is also opening a third cruise hub Down Under, moving Carnival Spirit from Sydney to Brisbane for year- round cruising in 2020. And not all the action is on the ocean. River trip operators are looking for new ways to impress, none more so than U by Uniworld - the first cruise line created with millennials in mind. U by Uniworld has teamed up with a dating app to create These days, the action's not just on the ocean. A date on the Seine? It's made for millennials By Ian Jarrett its first singles cruise. The eight-night August sailing on France's Seine River has been formed in partnership with "The League," a dating app that was created, its founder and CEO says, for ambitious people striving to be half of a power couple. According to CLIA figures, the average age of a cruiser is 47 years: Expect that figure to drop if U by Uniworld's dating cruises take off. ASIA ON THE RISE More than four million cruise passengers in 2017 were from Asia, up more than 20% from 2016.