Growing draw: Malaysia ready to spend on cruise tourism to bring in more passengers

Malaysia is poised to invest in new port infrastructure to capitalise on the surging popularity of cruises – with passenger numbers hitting a record 1.5 million last year – as port-hopping holidays on ships roar back to life after running aground during the pandemic.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the cruise tourism sector grew by 85 per cent in 2023 compared to 2019 – before the pandemic struck – bringing Malaysia’s share of the global cruise tourism to 5 per cent of the global market.

That aligns with the rising popularity of cruises, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) which projected a 6 per cent growth for 2024 compared to 2019.

“This growth trajectory is expected to continue with additional infrastructure development at Port Klang Cruise Terminal, Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal Penang, and Kota Kinabalu Cruise Terminal,” Loke said in a statement on Monday.

Bound by waters on almost all sides, international cruises from Singapore to Phuket in Thailand through Malaysian ports of Penang and Port Klang are popular among locals and foreign visitors alike. Trips to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo, Singapore and Brunei are also gaining in popularity.

According to CLIA, which represents players in the global cruise industry, younger generations hold the key to the future of cruise travel, with 88 per cent of millennials and 86 per cent of Gen-X travellers who have gone on cruises before saying they plan to do so again.

In step, cruise operators are getting increasingly creative to target new markets, as they remake ships away from their traditional image of cruises as the holdout of retirees and the elderly.

Italian cruise line Costa Cruises is looking to Southeast Asia’s vast Muslim population