Princess Cruises sees aggressive expansion in Asia

The offices are in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, making a total of four offices in Asia. The first Asian office was set up in March last year in Tokyo.

Alan Buckelew, president and CEO at Princess Cruises, noted that the expansion will see 12 offices in Asia by year's end. Dentsu handles th brand's creative duties in Japan, while McCann Worldgroup covers the remaining markets in Asia.

Operating a fleet of 16 ships, Princess Cruises carries 1.4 million passengers globally each year.

The cruise line recently revealed its plan to bring the Sapphire Princess to Singapore for a four-month engagement from fall 2014 to spring 2015, through Carnival Corporation. This deployment is said to be the largest deployment ever by a premium cruise line.

“Princess Cruises will be the first premium cruise line to have ships based in Singapore for an extended period,” Buckelew said.

He added that the local economic impact from the Singapore-based deployment will be notable, with a total contribution estimated to be nearly SG$50 million. This includes passenger and crew spending in each port, harbour and other local costs that Carnival will pay to bring ships to Singapore, travel agent commissions and marketing costs.

About 40,000 passengers are expected to be carried during the first season of cruising from Singapore, with passengers from Asia and international markets such as North America, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Princess Cruises expects to carry 7 million passengers each year by 2020, and as the travel industry in Asia is rapidly evolving, Buckelew said the brand will move ships from other countries to Asian markets where the demand warrants it.