‘We observed that consumers are gaining back their confidence towards cruising as they become more aware and educated of the preventive and safety measures that are readily in place on our cruise ships’
Under Genting Cruise Lines, Dream Cruises had successfully commenced safe pilot cruise since July 2020 starting with Taiwan and in November in Singapore. From both markets, demand remains highly encouraging with notable positive trends. We observed that consumers are gaining back their confidence towards cruising as they become more aware and educated of the preventive and safety measures that are readily in place on our cruise ships. For instance, our ships currently being deployed in both countries are equipped with an on board PCR machine and in Singapore, all guests are required to conduct
an ART test prior and post-cruise with the ship operating at 50 per cent reduced capacity.
Another notable trend is that travellers are now highly conscious of their well-being and safety when choosing their choice of vacation. There is a gradual and renew interest in cruising, especially for domestic markets as we have been working hard to educate consumers on the benefits of cruising and the safety measures that are available in line with both international and local authorities’ guidelines. In 2021, we hope the regional and global situation will improve and travel bubbles
Cruising will remain the most popular and potential travel product in post COVID-19 period. In particular, river cruising will continue to expand and diversify in 2021 and 2022 because of its incredible appeal. Unlike the ocean liners, river cruise ships only accommodate 130-150 guests a ship which can massively reduce the risk of any emergencies. This also ensures our guests get to enjoy all of the benefits of cruising, but with fewer people and more personalised service.
We expect safety will be the priority concern for all travellers and they will choose to book their holidays with a reliable company that can provide them the peace of mind that deliberate steps have been taken to protect their safety, health, and wellbeing
Beyond the impact on our business, the COVID-19 pandemic has also unveiled some opportunities. Consumer pricing sensitivities have reduced a lot and there are more customers who are willing to pay more to make travel happen.
Since the announcements of vaccines, we have seen a surge in booking enquiries and many of our customers who have had to cancel their trips in 2020 are rebooking for 2021 and 2022. We also received many thoughtful and sweet messages from our past guests. They asked about our crew’s situations and expressed their desire to travel with us again. These messages are a huge motivation for us, and a testament of their trust that Uniworld and our parent company, The Travel Corporation will deliver the best way to get back into the world again once it is safe to do so!
Uniworld spent the extra months without sailings improving on our already will expand with prevailing safety conditions that will enable FlyCruise to commence in the future this year.
We are looking forward to forging new and safe opportunities for the New Year in 2021, both within the existing and active markets like Taiwan and Singapore, but also new markets within the region. As such, we are constantly in discussion with the various local authorities to share our experiences in safety and preventive measures based on our current active deployments in order to explore suitable timings to resume safe pilot cruises for our fleet across the region