When it comes to innovation and blazing new trails, look no further than Genting Cruise Lines.
Not only has Genting weathered the latest Covid storm with speed and agility, the many firsts the company attained in the past 18 months are a testament of the company leadership and direction, furthering anchoring its position in Asia as a cruise powerhouse.
By end-July, all our Dream Cruises ships will be back in operation, anchoring yet another new milestone for us in such a difficult time.– Kent Zhu, Genting Cruise Lines
At the early stage of the pandemic, Genting unlocked its first milestone when Star Cruises became the first cruise line to be chartered for pandemic support by the Singapore government. Working closely with the local authorities, Genting in just a matter of days turned its two Star Cruises ships into temporary lodging for foreign migrant workers who recovered from Covid-19 in Singapore.
A couple of months after the global travel shutdown, Genting soon reached another milestone when Dream Cruises became the world’s first cruise line to resume cruise operations – first with Explorer Dream in Taiwan last July, followed by the World Dream in Singapore last November.
Dream Cruises also spearheaded the launch of a new certification in infection prevention for the maritime industry with DNV GL. Concurrently, World Dream also became the first halal-friendly cruise ship in Asia Pacific, further widening its offerings to Muslim passengers.
Next up, Genting is expected to score another milestone when Dream Cruises becomes the first cruise line to resume cruising in Hong Kong with Genting Dream on 30 July.
Genting Cruise Lines attained many milestones during the pandemic, including being the first cruise line to restart sailings in Taiwan, Singapore and soon Hong Kong.
At the helm of these many accomplishments is Genting Cruise Lines president Kent Zhu, who knew that steering an organisation during an unprecedented global crisis would require plenty of foresight, gumption and flexibility, as well as tight collaboration with governments across Asia.
“In the past several months, we have been working very closely with the Hong Kong government to prepare for the cruise restart,” said Zhu, during an exclusive interview with Travel Weekly Asia.
“By end-July, all our Dream Cruises ships will be back in operation, anchoring yet another new milestone for us in such a difficult time.”
Already, the Hong Kong market is showing a robust demand for Dream Cruises’ upcoming seacations, with a booking pace that has outperformed that of Singapore and Taiwan in their initial resumption stages.
That is a clear indication of the strong pent-up for travel among Hong Kong people, as well as the growing confidence in cruising as a safe vacation built upon Genting’s successful restart of operations in Taiwan and Singapore.
“We have no Covid related incident in the past year of operation, having served over 200,000 passengers in the last one year,” said Zhu.
For the cruise industry veteran, a silver lining of the pandemic is the growth acceleration of Asia’s nascent cruise market. “In the markets where we are sailing, definitely more people are embracing cruising. We are seeing more new cruisers on our trio of Dream Cruises ships since resuming our sailings.”
Looking ahead, Zhu is excited by the planned arrival of Global Dream in 2022, which will carve out new possibilities for Dream Cruises to sail to more destinations and operate longer itineraries in Asia.
What leadership lessons will he take away from the Covid-19 crisis?
“The biggest lesson I’ve learnt through the many crises is to keep a calm and positive head, but yet always staying agile and be prepared for future challenges,” Zhu reflected.
“The opportunities are boundless. We will not stop planning ahead.”