Sydney – Southeast Asia remains one of the quickest-maturing cruise regions in the world. Robust economic development and growth in disposable income and leisure time have led to a surge in the popularity and affordability of cruising.

Understanding that more can be done to inform and update the trade and industry on cruising in this region, Sydney-based publisher “Cruise Media Australasia”, with their strong repertoire of publishing expertise in Australia’s cruise industry, was appointed to create a Cruise Newsletter to serve as the link between ASEAN as a cruise destination and the travel industry.

This new, monthly e-newsletter will keep travel agents, tour operators, and cruise industry professionals across Asia abreast of cruise developments in South East Asia. It will, next to regional cruise news, contain information on cruise products to coach and enthuse travel agents about selling cruises.

The impact of cruise tourism on the economy of South East Asia, whether sea bound or on the mighty Mekong River connecting five ASEAN member states, is undeniably huge in terms of tourist expenditure, government revenue, employment and tourism industry earnings.

As the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Mr. Le Luong Minh, shares “Cruising offers great economic benefits to every country”. Referring to the new publication, he then adds “ASEAN Cruise News is an important step in ensuring that Southeast Asia’s travel industry is well placed to take full advantage of the growth in this exciting sector of global tourism. We urge the industry to support this new information platform by ensuring its staff are aware of the ASEAN Cruise News newsletter, and by supplying news and training information.”

ASEAN CRUISE NEWS thus is a complementary means to help travel agents, tourism executives and those working in the region’s marine industries take advantage of the growing cruise market and to inspire and educate tourism entrepreneurs, so the region can take full advantage of the rising interest in cruise holidays.

Or, in the words of the Assistant Chief Executive of Singapore Tourism Board, Mr. Leong Yue Kheong, “ASEAN Cruise News is one of the joint initiatives supported by ASEAN NTOs as an additional media title to profile the importance of cruise development in South East Asia. We are excited to see the launch of this production, which will keep tourism professionals updated on the latest regional developments in cruise and the growing business opportunities in the industry.”

The first issue of the e-newsletter has been launched, to be viewed on  www.aseancruising.com ; it features topics such as ‘Southeast Asia’s ten new cruise destinations’, the ‘Adaptation of cruise ships to the region (Asianization)’, a ‘Preview on the Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific Conference’, ‘River Cruising in Myanmar’ and a ‘Masterclass on tips to sell the right cruises’ by CLIA (Cruise Line International Association).