India signals a healthy and thriving Fly-Cruise segment
Travel Trade Journal|September 2022
It has been almost three months since Resorts World Cruises' flagship, Genting Dream, debuted in Singapore on June 15. Since the company launched its dual home porting in Singapore and Port Klang in Malaysia for its Genting Dream last July, the cruise liner has received a very positive response from the Malaysian market with the 3-Night cruises representing over 50 percent of Port Klang departures. In this interaction with TTJ, Naresh Rawal, Vice President, Sales and Marketing (India), Resorts World Cruises, we get to know from him about the response and developments in the India market, the popularity of the FlyCruise concept, and the exciting itineraries that are in store for Indian cruise aficionados.
Prashant Nayak
India signals a healthy and thriving Fly-Cruise segment

After the launch in June 2022, how is Resorts World Cruises shaping up?

Since our debut, we are encouraged by the overwhelming response from the trade and consumers in the region, which led to Resorts World Cruises launching its dual homeport in Singapore with the addition of Kuala Lumpur (via Port Klang in Malaysia) in mid-July. Things are moving at a fast pace and in a positive direction as we ride the wave of building our brand across various international markets and segments. We have also successfully normalised operations to the optimum level in terms of operations, services, and offerings and as a result, we observed a steady increase in passenger demand.

Do you think Indian consumers are looking forward to sailing again on luxury cruise ships? How has the India market responded after the start of the sailing of Genting Dream in Singaporean waters?

Demand and trends indicate that consumers in India are very much ready to sail again with a luxury and dynamic lifestyle cruise brand like Resorts World Cruises, especially through the Fly-Cruise segment. Within the first 2 months of launching from Singapore, we had received over 20,000 cabin bookings from the India market, signalling a healthy and thriving Fly-Cruise segment. We also observed that the MICE segment is gaining strong traction and we are optimistic that the MICE segment will further contribute to the growth of the overall Fly-Cruise market in the coming months.

Do you think the escalating and high airfares will deter holidaymakers from booking a Fly-Cruise in the upcoming holiday season?

This story is from the September 2022 edition of Travel Trade Journal.

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This story is from the September 2022 edition of Travel Trade Journal.

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