Star Cruises Celebrates 20 Years in Taiwan with First Dual-Ship, Dual-Homeport Launch

By / MOOK Scenic Spots Editorial Team

The world’s third-largest cruise company and parent group of Star Cruises, Genting Hong Kong, marks 20 years of deep cultivation in Taiwan. With continuous growth in the Asian market, Taiwan stands as the second-largest source market in Asia. This not only lays a solid foundation for Taiwan’s cruise tourism, but data released on the 17th also shows that the Taiwanese market has already welcomed 2 million cruise passengers, demonstrating tremendous development potential. This year, in an effort to boost the tourism economy and in line with the Executive Yuan’s “Taiwan Cruise Industry Development Strategy,” which aims to make the cruise industry a key player in tourism, Genting Hong Kong will, for the first time starting March 2017, offer dual-ship services in Taiwan—Star Cruises’ “SuperStar Aquarius” and “SuperStar Virgo”—with Keelung and Kaohsiung serving as respective homeports. This initiative fully supports the government’s goal of promoting the industrialization of Taiwan’s cruise sector.

Over the past 20 years in Taiwan, Genting Hong Kong, which has offices worldwide and was the first cruise company to establish a branch in Taiwan, has built strong cooperative relationships with Taiwanese travelers, tourism operators, and government departments. Having operated in Taiwan for two decades, the number of passengers traveling with Star Cruises from Taiwan has surpassed 2 million, successfully igniting a cruise travel trend among Taiwanese. In addition to continuously driving the vigorous growth of Taiwan’s cruise industry, Star Cruises also promotes the beauty of Taiwanese cities through cruise packages, attracting cruise tourists from all over Asia.

To deliver a relaxing sea vacation, Star Cruises has introduced the Fly Cruise series, attracting cruise enthusiasts from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and other Asian countries to fly to Taiwan and embark on sea journeys aboard SuperStar Aquarius and SuperStar Virgo, thereby boosting the economic development around the Port of Keelung. Looking ahead to 2017, in alignment with government policy, Star Cruises will, for the first time starting in March, launch dual-ship services in Taiwan with SuperStar Aquarius and SuperStar Virgo, using Keelung and Kaohsiung as homeports. In addition to continuing popular Northeast Asia itineraries to Naha, Ishigaki, and Miyako in Okinawa, Japan, the company will also newly introduce Southeast Asia routes departing from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong, Manila, and Laoag, using cruise tourism to drive economic development in Southeast Asian countries.

At the same time, through Star Cruises’ Fly Cruise packages, the company will continue to attract international cruise travelers to Taiwan, further enhancing the cruise-related economy. With the combined strategy of dual ships and dual homeports, Genting Hong Kong expects to exceed 374 ship calls in 2017, accelerating the government’s goal of welcoming 1 million passengers and over 600 ship calls this year. In addition, Genting Hong Kong will collaborate with tourism bureaus in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Okinawa to promote cross-market economic and industrial development through the cruise market, bringing in tourist traffic.

Starting March 21, 2017, Star Cruises’ flagship vessel SuperStar Virgo will use Kaohsiung as its homeport, launching a 6-day, 5-night itinerary from Taiwan to Hong Kong, Manila, and Laoag, bringing passengers from Hong Kong and the Philippines to Taiwan. Meanwhile, capitalizing on the growing popularity of Japanese travel, SuperStar Virgo will also offer Japan itineraries for passengers from Keelung and Kaohsiung starting June 2017.