London: The Asian burgeoning cruise market currently holds 5% of the market share of global cruise industry with a global worth of over $177 billion.
However, with the number of Asian cruise passengers set to exceed 2.1 million this year, and as many as 8 million by 2020, the region is on track to become the world’s fastest growing cruise market.
With the imminent arrival of Seatrade Cruise Asia at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre in Busan, Korea from 11-12 June 2015, cruise industry experts and leading figure heads are gearing up to lead a ground-breaking debate on the Cruise industry within Korea and the Wider Asia Market.
In order for the region to take a larger chunk of the market share and live up to these staggering statistics, it is vital for the industry to not only understand the products and itineraries that will appeal but also the likely future pattern of cruise tourism development, in particular in its region leader, China, which is expected to generate 4.5m passengers by 2020.
Can we expect to see any more Asian entrants into the local cruise market? How can the Korean and other Asia economies maximise the impending benefits of cruise tourism? And what is the current nature and scale of the opportunity for Asian shipyards in cruise ship construction and refurbishment?
Seatrade Cruise Asia is hosted by Busan Port Authority, Busan Metropolitan City, Korea Tourism Organization and Korea Marine Leisure Network.