SIMON Yip, vice president sales, Asia for Silversea Cruises believes high end cruising will benefit from revenge spending as travellers in Asia come out of their enforced hibernation and seek a slower, more luxurious pace of travel.
“We are encouraged to see parts of Asia opening up,” said Yip, commenting on the openings in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, as well as the Vaccinated Travel Lanes between Singapore and South Korea and, most recently, Kuala Lumpur.
“It’s been quiet since the pandemic started but it’s encouraging to see business pick up again. Travel partners are coming again to speak to us. Customers are seeking more space, fewer people and our largest ship is the Silver Moon with 700 pax, so revenge spending will benefit our cruises.
“We are now busy again taking bookings for future sailings. The bookings being made this year are for our Mediterranean cruises for second quarter 2022,” he said.
The company, which has a total of 10 ships operating to 900 destinations, has half its fleet sailing currently and by year end, will deploy two more for the Antarctica season. “Part of the reason why the full fleet is now back has been that some ports have not been available,” said the Singapore-based Yip.
It has been unable to operate “cruises to nowhere” which was allowed in Singapore “because it’s good for the mass market but not for small ships like ours”.
Through the pandemic,it has kept busy organising webinars for partners and customers, staying engaged, and Yip anticipates that traditional travel agents will remain a core part of Silverseas’ distribution even though the larger ships such as Royal Caribbean and Dream Cruises have seen a shift to more online and direct through the pandemic.
“In Asia, it is still a B2B model for us and I believe the travel agents who can survive this are the niche specialists. They have lower overheads and their customers are their friends, and they can hold their customers’ hands through the new-ness of travelling again.
“In the US, UK and Australia, it is more online and we will increase our online activity in those markets. Flights, pre-stay hotels, arrangements are still needed in Asia and our customers still want to have trusted agents to help them book.”
Asia currently represents a small 5% of Silversea’s market although it’s had a Singapore office for almost 30 years. “The pandemic set us back but we are expanding our team to capture the new demand that’s coming back as well as increasing our online presence.”
Its key markets are Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China with India an upcoming market. It operates 18 sailings in Asia. While its core market remains baby boomers, it is seeing younger families join its cruises as well as three generations travelling together.
• Featured image credit: Silver Moon, Silversea
