The Malaysia Cruise Industry Association (MCIA) stated that there must be more proactive government support for the cruise industry as after the Covid 19 pandemic home port cruises have been doing well.

MCIA noted that cruising is gaining in popularity due to its new holiday concepts, leisure focused experiences and the convenience of not checking in and out everyday and having value for money compared to traditional tour packages.

Besides this, a cruise offers a lot of goodies such as a wide variety of theme park and entertainment activities on board, international food choices, daily excursions and it offers more human interaction on a journey.

MCIA also stated there is a growing demand for high end international cruises among the high income group and shore excursions play a significant role as they offer unique experiences at each destination.

According to the State of the Cruise Industry 2023 report by Cruise Lines International Association, cruises are one of the fastest growing tourism sectors, soaring to 20.4 million passengers in 2022 from only 4.8 million passengers in 2021.

Cruise tourism is forecasted to reach 106 percent of the 2019 levels in 2023, with 31.5 million passengers and a record high of 36 million passengers envisaged for next year and set to grow by leaps and bounds.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE