Singapore now accounts for one-third of all cruises worldwide, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said on Wednesday, April 7, Reuters reported.
According to STB, this is due to the "roaring success" of cruises to nowhere here, while the industry has yet to restart in various parts of the world.
STB added that it had calculated the share of global cruises with data from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
Currently, Singapore has two cruise lines operating cruises to nowhere — Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas and Genting Cruise Lines' Dream Cruises.
STB: Singapore will not hold its lead for long
STB's chief executive Keith Tan added that he does not expect Singapore to be in the lead for long, however.
He was quoted as saying:
"Over the next few months, I certainly believe there will be more resumption of cruise business in the Caribbean, and in the Mediterranean as well."
Reuters further reported that some cruises in the Caribbean are expected to resume, while cruises are also operating in some parts of Europe, the South Pacific and Asia.
Royal Caribbean extends sailing season for Quantum of the Seas to October
Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean has announced that its ship, Quantum of the Seas, will continue sailing from Singapore until October 2021, according to a press release by the cruise line on Apr. 1.
The ship was originally slated to begin cruising from Alaska from April 5 onwards to Oct. 14, but, the ship will remain in the Asia-Pacific region so as to allow "additional time for preparation".
Similarly, Genting Cruise Lines has also announced that it will be extending Dream Cruises to October, The Straits Times reported.
STB added that thus far, more than 120,000 people in Singapore have taken the cruises, with no Covid-19 cases on board.
Top photo by Matthias Ang