Cruise & Cruise Line

Taiwan and Hong Kong Unveil Cruise Fund for Asia

Image: Photo courtesy of Thinkstock (Thinkstock)

by James Ruggia
Last updated: 3:24 PM ET, Tue March 11, 2014

Several Asian ports will be participating in a new "Asia Cruise Fund," that's designed to stimulate multi-national cooperation in Asian cruising, especially by Asian travelers. The announcement was made at Cruise Shipping Miami by Philip Yung, the commissioner for tourism of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government along with Anthony Lau, the executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and Dr. Wayne Liu, the deputy director-general of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB).

"The launch of the fund marks a significant step towards regional cruise cooperation, which is vital if the industry is to successfully tap the potential created by the growing population of Asia's middle class and booming outbound travel over the next decade. We believe the fund will show our dedication and commitment to cruise tourism development and reinforce cruise operators' confidence in deploying more ships to Asia, benefiting not only the participating ports but also cruise lines and other industry stakeholders," said Lau.

The fund, beginning on April 1, is designed to create a network of stake holding ports in Asia to jointly develop cruise tourism. The fund will run for three years, will be made up of contributions from participating ports and used to subsidize cruise companies to develop and market their cruise products. Participating cruise lines must deploy vessels to at least two participating ports or territories in a single itinerary.

"Hong Kong has already proven it has everything it takes to be the cruise hub of Asia," said Yung. "The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which are targeted for completion in the coming few years, will significantly improve the connectivity between Hong Kong and Southern China. By working with neighboring ports in the region, we believe we can make Asia an opportunity too good to miss for international cruise companies - both as a destination and a rich source of potential passengers."

The cruise industry sees enormous potential in Asia, where it's predicted that two-thirds of the world's middle-class population will be based by 2030.