Singapore well poised to ride on the back of strong cruise industry The future of cruising in Asia Pacific is bright and Singapore is well-positioned to ride on the crest of this strong wave, believes the chairman of the Singapore Cruise Centre, Mr Soo Kok Leng. Singapore recently welcomed her 10th million cruise passenger on 2 April 2006.  Passenger throughput rose by 36.3% and vessel calls by 87.2% over the four months from November 2005 to February 2006, compared with the same period the year before. Said the Chairman of the Singapore Cruise Centre (SCC), Mr Soo Kok Leng: “The increases are due to a doubling during this period of our home-porting ships from 4 to 8.  This is indeed a welcome development for SCC.” He added, “The Asia-Pacific region is the next growth market for the industry.  Although Asia currently has the smallest share of about 5% of the world cruising market, it has the largest growth potential.  This is due to the fast growth in numbers of Asian cruise passengers, particularly from China and India, along with rising affluence.  Singapore can expect to attract a sizeable share of this market as it ramps up to becoming a regional cruise hub.” President of the SCC, Mr Cheong Teow Cheng noted that prior to November 2005, four ships were – and still are – based here: the SuperStar Virgo, Leisure World, MegaStar Aries and MegaStar Taurus. From November 2005 to February 2006, four more ships have been home-porting here – SuperStar Gemini and Omar III, Lucky Star and the Pacific Sky. Said Mr Cheong: “Furthermore, in addition to our regular seasonal customers between November and April each year, this year, Costa Crociere, an Italian subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, will be positioning its cruise ship, Costa Marina, in Singapore from 22 December 2006 to 24 February 2007.” Singapore Tourism Board’s Director, Cluster Development (Sightseeing and Cruise), Mr Chang Chee Pey, said that Singapore aims to entice the growing cruise market segment to Singapore by leveraging on the country’s excellent air and sea connectivity to entrench Singapore as the regional cruise hub. Meanwhile, the 10th millionth passenger was one of about 500 who arrived on Star Cruises’ SuperStar Gemini on 2 April.  The passenger count started when the International Passenger Terminal was opened in November 1991. The lucky passenger received prizes worth a total of S$5,400. The SCC, which also celebrates its 15th Anniversary later this year, recently won the coveted international Dream World Cruise Destination Award for Best Turnaround Port Operations.  The Award is given by Dream World Cruise Destinations, which is published by Contract Communications, a subsidiary of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.