The largest luxury ship to be based in Singapore embarked Thursday night, November 16, on its first cruise since making the megapolis its home port, in a boost to the ambitions of Singapore to become a cruise hub in Asia.
Genting Dream, Genting Hong Kong's cruise ship which has 18 decks and can accommodate 3,352 passengers, is currently sailing to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar.
In order to promote Genting Dream, Singapore Tourism Board, Changi Airport Group and Genting Cruise Lines signed a tripartite partnership that is worth US$28 million.
The partnership will continue until 2020, and is estimated to bring in a total of 600,000 visitors and over US$250 million in tourism receipts.
At a press conference onboard Genting Dream on Thursday, while the ship was docked at Marina Bay Cruise Centre, Kent Zhu - president of Genting Cruise Lines - said the company will romote Singapore as a fly-cruise destination in over 20 countries.