Cruise tourism from Singapore draws Indians the most

Indians form the largest number of visitors for cruise tourism from Singapore, which is the homeport of many international cruise lines, a Singapore Tourism Board official said here today.

The number of Indian tourists availing cruises from Singapore has risen by about 25 per cent from that of 2016 to 1,27,000 passengers in 2017, said Yuemin Li-Misra, Singapore Tourism Board's area director for north and east India said.

"There are several cruise companies operating from Singapore which offer a range of vacations from two nights to as many as eight or nine nights," Misra said.

These tours cover exotic places including those in Bali, Cambodia, Myanmar, etc.

The city state, had more than a million visitors from India for the third consecutive year in a row till 2017. There were 613,461 visitors from India from January to May this year, Misra said.

In a bid to provide more attraction to the visitors, the Singapore Tourism Board is taking a new inside-out approach, wherein tourists are encouraged to interact more with the natives of the country, she said.

"It's about how the Singapore people connect with the visitors and nurture the passions of tourists in different fields," Misra said.

Singapore Tourism Board has introduced seven "Passion Tribes", focussing on foodies, collectors, explorers, progressors, action seekers, culture shapers and socialisers to strike a chord with varied interests and likings of people, the official said.