ASEAN Tourism Plan Aims for Continued High Growth in Cruise Sector

Adding to the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2016-2025, tourism ministers also adopted the ASEAN declaration on cruise tourism. According to the declaration, ASEAN is supporting the aim to further develop and fortify cruise tourism due to the continued high economic tourism growth generated by the cruise tourism industry in the region. One good example would be the growth of the cruise industry in Singapore. According to the latest data from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the Republic’s cruise industry directly contributed S$706 million to the country’s economy in 2016, a 36 percent increase from 2010. Through the implementation of this declaration, the industry hopes to see 4.5 million passengers cruising in Southeast Asia by 2035, that’s 10 times more than in 2016.