Asia is now one of the most important destinations for cruise ships in the world and cruise lines are sending their biggest and best ships to the region: from lavish oceans liners travelling around the world to intimate ships offering short journeys by sea or river.
As nine out of 10 Asian cruises choose itineraries with in their region and tend to prefer short trips (almost half pick itineraries of four to six days), cruise lines are offering a huge variety of itineraries around the Asia. There are now 168 cruise destinations across 19 countries in the region.
In 2014, there were 1.4 million Asian cruiser. By 2020, it is expected there will be 4.5 million, more than 20 per cent of the 22 million who currently cruise world-wide.
China accounted for nearly half of the regional passenger volume in 2014, with an estimated 679,000 passengers from mainland China compared to 700,000 from the rest of Asia. Singapore was also a standout with 163,000 passengers joining cruises from the tiny island state.
