Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas (Photo: AFP)Singapore (VNA) - Cruise passenger traffic inSingapore has fallen by 52 percent year-on-year since the start of the COVID-19outbreak, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said.
According to STB Director Annie Chang, from January23 to March 9, Singapore handled a total of only 65 cruise calls and 156,465passengers. Meanwhile, it received 81 COVID-19 related cancelled ship calls.
Asthe number of imported cases swelled, Singapore has stopped cruise visits sinceMarch 13.
Withcountries implementing travel and port restrictions to curb the outbreak,cruise operators around the world have been forced to cancel or changetheir itineraries.
Costasaid it would cancel all cruises worldwide until April 3 to protect the healthand safety of guests and those in their destinations. Carnival's PrincessCruises, which runs the Diamond Princess, is doing the same until May 10.
TheUS-based Royal Caribbean, one of the world’s largest cruise operators, hascancelled all cruises departing Singapore until May and recently announced itwould suspend US cruises for 30 days.
ChanBrothers Travel, which books cruises from Singapore and abroad, said it expectsbusiness to drop by at least 30 percent for the next three months, includingthe busy travel season in June.
Singapore’sdecision to stop cruise calls will contribute to a loss in tourism arrivalnumbers and receipts, senior manager at Nanyang Polytechnic’s (NYP) School ofBusiness Management Shirley Tee said.
STB’sChang said the agency will offer enhanced support to industry players thathave committed to partnerships under the Cruise Development Fund.
Thefund supports companies like cruise operators, travel agents and trainers inactivities designed to boost demand for cruises from Singapore.
Nevertheless,Chang said Singapore’s cruise industry is also in a good position to recoverdue to many years of good growth, pointing to how passenger traffic hadfrom 2015 to 2019 grown at a compounded annual rate of 15.6 percent.
In2018, the industry contributed 1.87 million passengers from 401 port calls, a 35percent jump from the year before./.
VNA
