Cruise tourism has been growing in popularity in Taiwan in recent years, but can be improved through more customized and integrated services, as well as faster processing of travel documents, participants at a cruise travel forum in Taipei said on Tuesday.
Tourism Bureau Director-General David Hsieh (謝謂君) said the nation needs to work on its port facilities and land transportation services to make travel more convenient, provide customized itineraries to create a niche and partner with other major Asian ports to promote the cruise tourism market.
However, efforts to improve the market in Taiwan must include the private and public sectors, Hsieh said at the forum, which was attended by government officials, academics and representatives of major cruise lines.
Taiwan International Ports Co, says there has been a surge in the cruise business coming to Taiwan in recent years, and this year an 8 percent growth rate is forecast, which would bring the total number of international tourist arrivals via cruise lines to 780,000.
If Taiwan wants to make itself more appealing to cruise ship visitors, it must expedite the processing of travel documents, said Michael Goh, senior vice president of sales for Hong Kong-based Star Cruise Travel Service.
“A simpler visa-handling procedure is worth considering,” Goh said, adding that it such a move would allow visitors to enjoy smoother trips, and spend more time sightseeing and shopping.
Cruise operators have been seeking to expand their presence in Asia as the cruise tourism market in the region continues to grow, a Taiwan International Ports Co official said.
Over the next three years, major cruise operators such as Carnival, MSC, Norwegian and AIDA are expected to establish home port operations in Asia, while Princess, Royal Caribbean, Costa and Star Cruises plan to increase their services on Asia-Pacific routes, port officials said.
The number of cruise ship passengers passing through the port of Keelung is expected to more than double year-on-year in the fourth quarter of this year, the officials said.
Although the fourth quarter is typically the low season for cruise ship calls in Keelung, about 82 regularly scheduled cruise ships and 22 others are expected there between last month and next month, said Song I-ching (宋益進), director of the port’s stevedoring and warehousing business division.
Song said the port is hoping to create a cruise liner market that would have “no low seasons.”
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