GEORGE TOWN: Penang is looking to welcome 1.8 million passenger arrivals through cruise ship calls next year.
Penang Port Commission (PPC) chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng said they are expecting to record 1.3 million passenger arrivals by the end of this year from international cruise calls, cruises to ‘nowhere’ and regional ferries.
He said for this month alone, there were 37 international cruise calls, bringing with them 81,000 passengers.
In January 2018, there will be 36 international cruise calls bringing with them 82,000 passengers and 28 international cruise calls bringing with them 60,000 passengers in February.
"The state has seen an overwhelming development in the cruise industry since last year where we welcomed several maiden cruise liners. This year, the new Genting Dream luxury liner called on us for the first time.
"We expect to reap greater benefits from the evergrowing cruise industry," he said when met at the PPC office here today.
The year-old Genting Dream is the second biggest in the world, based on passenger capacity, after the Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas.
It stretches 335m and with a displacement of 151,000 tonnes, has a capacity to transport 3,500 passengers and 2,000 crew members,” he said.
Official figures from PPC showed there were a total of 270 international cruise calls this year compared with 117 last year, 838 cruises to nowhere (compared with 1,086 last year) and 720 regional ferries (compared with 852 last year).
The data also showed there were 438,369 passengers from intenational cruise calls this year compared with 182,277 passengers last year, 650,000 passengers from cruises to nowhere (compared with 524,225 passengers last year) and 190,000 from regional ferries (compared with 186,257 last year).
Tan said the Penang Port has since been recognised as the best cruise ship port in the country after Langkawi, Port Klang, Melaka, Johor and Pahang.
"With this recognition, we are fast becoming the country's important international cruise port," he added.
PPC is planning to embark on a RM200 million plan to expand the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal (SPCT) so that it can receive larger cruise liners in future.
Works are expected to begin next year.