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12 | www.travelweekly-asia.com Cruise lines dig deeper into AsiA From China to indonesia, the cruise market is growing and cruise lines are making their presence felt and choosing their "sweet spot". royal Caribbean international (rCi) is docking Quantum of the seas in shanghai, clearly signaling its interest in China. Costa Cruises is targeting to be one of the most preferred vacation choices in Asia, and China. princess Cruises meanwhile is eyeing south-east Asia and indonesia, in particular. Costa Cruises will be the first international cruise company with three ships based in China offering homeport service for Asian guests. starting from April 2015, Costa serena (114,500-ton with a capacity for 3,780 pax) will be deployed year- round in the region and will be the Costa's flagship in Asia. It will join Costa Victoria and Costa Atlantica, increasing the company's capacity in the region by 74%. "Costa Cruises believes that a unique positioning, a strong distribution network across Asia and close relationships with industry partners are the key factors to drive growth in the region," said Buhdy Bok, Senior Vice President Pacific Asia & China, Costa Crociere s.p.A. Costa wants to bring to the region a taste of "italy at sea" by featuring the hospitality, design, shopping flair, fine art and food & wine that are synonymous with italian style. it recently launched the Carnival of Venice programme for Asia passengers starting this november. A key distribution channel for Costa is of course travel agents and the company provides "continuous trainings and familiarisation trips for them to fully understand and experience Costa Cruises' products," said Bok. Celebrity Cruises is banking on its product promise and delivery to sell to Asian customers. said Kelvin tan, Commercial Director, Asia Pacific, Celebrity Cruises, "Celebrity Cruises represents modern luxury – cool, contemporary design and warm spaces, coupled with refined dining experiences and amazing service. "this is what most of our discerning Asia guests are looking for in their cruise vacations – By natalie Chen PRODUCT: CRUises exciting itineraries, unique ports of call, onboard service delivery that exceeds expectation and great value-for-money offerings compared to land-based vacations." Meanwhile, princess Cruises is focusing its efforts in south-east Asia, with its sights on indonesia in particular. the company is seeing an emerging demographic of cruise travellers as more first-timers and young adults look to cruises. Figures clearly reflect an upward trend in indonesia. According to the Ministry for tourism and Creative economy, 160,000 passengers arrived in indonesia by cruise in 2013, and 203,000 passengers are expected by the end of 2014. there were 300 cruise ship calls to indonesia in 2013, a 44% increase from 2012, with 385 expected in 2014. indonesia's strategic location in the heart of south-east Asia, year-round warm weather, and 17,000 islands and calm seas holds plenty of potential for cruise tourism, believes princess Cruises. "indonesia is one of the key markets for princess Cruises and we are proud to play our part in developing this growing cruise industry," said Farriek Tawfik, director for southeast Asia, princess Cruises. "our partners and travel agents have been very supportive and we have been making inroads into this market through strong relationships with all our key stakeholders." princess Cruises will be extending the homeporting season of the sapphire princess in this region with a 17-day grand Asia tour. this popular Asia itinerary will feature calls at Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, shanghai, Nagasaki, Busan and Beijing in March 2015. princess has seen new cruise itineraries with the current sailings in december, including a six-night cruise from singapore to Bali and Kuala lumpur, and a four-night cruise from Kuala lumpur to penang, phuket and singapore. these cruises were created to cater to indonesian families' demand for short-haul trips during the december school holidays. "We are witnessing tremendous growth and demand in the market for our homeporting seasons in the region and we hope that our enhanced itinerary and onboard offerings will continue to appeal to our valued indonesian guests", said Tawfik. "We are very excited about bringing sapphire princess to indonesia where it will visit Bali, lombok and Komodo island". sapphire princess has a passenger capacity of 2,670 and 1,000 crew. princess Cruises is building a new ship in italy that will enter service in 2017, with a passenger capacity of 3,600. Kelvin tan: going after discerning Asian customers. Budhy Bok: steering Costa Cruises in Asia. Costa Serena, Costa's flagship in Asia Celebrity Cruises is banking on its product promise and delivery to sell to Asian customers.