Regional Director, Alvin Materi, believes Asia is about to make its big comeback
Is cruising about to make its long-awaited comeback in Asia?
It sure does look that way!
The exciting news around the opening of borders and the lifting of travel restrictions by many countries in SE Asia has seen a welcome flurry of activity by tourist boards, cruise lines and ground handlers such as Cruise Asia Destination Asia as we prepare for the industry restart.
Malaysian travellers, can now join a cruise departing from Singapore, arriving by air, or travelling overland without on-arrival COVID-19 testing or quarantine. Furthermore, Singapore is raising the sailing capacity of cruises to 75% this month, alongside the country’s reopening.
As Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam prepare to open their ports, cruise lines have begun to ramp up their itineraries. Royal Caribbean has announced new international sailings starting in October 2022 on Spectrum of the Seas to key regional ports of calls in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. These arrivals will deliver strong shore excursion programs – welcome news for our destinations. We also expect to hear from government agencies in Japan this month, whether they will open up the country by summer in time for cruise ships to return in time for the important fall season.
With this in mind, Cruise Asia by Destination Asia has been holding workshops in Indonesia and Malaysia, engaging with our staff and suppliers, to update with our latest Health & Safety information, standards and our ‘Safe Return to Service’ protocols, for our cruise partners and local communities in which we live.
So, to this, I say welcome back, and of course, if you have any questions relating to any of our destinations, we are on hand and more than happy to be of service, offer guidance, and up-to-the-minute local information. As Asia continues to relax entry requirements, Cruise Asia by Destination Asia has created an information site that enables our partners to see the latest travel updates at each of our destinations. We encourage you to click on any country tab within the site to view a page showing updates concerning country entry requirements and other, key dates to reopening, and other useful information. Click here to view our travel recovery site.
Best regards,
Alvin Materi