Two years ago, my wife told that she hoped to take a cruise to somewhere. She has not been on a cruise before. Well, we have not gone anywhere as she got pregnant after that and today, our second baby has started to crawl a bit and had just passed 8 months. While she may not yet get her wish but Johor is now part of a stopover for Superstar Virgo. It will moor at Johor’s Puteri Harbour Ferry Terminal. Nusajaya is the only destination in Malaysia during its tour to Asia and Australia. According to the Johor Tourism, Domestic Trade and Consumerism executive council chairman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong, the fleet which is part of Star Cruises, would moor at the terminal as part of its 48-day journey to eight countries in Asia and Australia.
This is a good news indeed. The reason is because those who can afford such cruises would be deep-pocketed enough to spend more than the usual visitors. I think the potential attractions better make arrangements with Star Cruises as soon as possible. The cruise would be bringing around 1,000 tourists and 800 crewmen from 15 countries and it starts from Hong Kong, China. Johor must take this opportunity to attract these visitors to come again in the future as the cruise would only be stopping for one day. After Johor, it would be proceeding to Singapore (huh? Johor is next door, right?), Sihanoukville in Cambodia, Jakarta and Bali in Indonesia and Australia’s Darwin, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Fremantle and Tasmania. The one day stop would enable tourists to spend time visiting attractions like Legoland Malaysia themepark and Johor Premium Outlet. Read here about Johor Premium Outlet.
One day is too short. However, if these 1,000 visitors spend just RM300 per person for that day, that’s already RM300,000 and based on a multiplier effect of 4x, this would already generate RM1.2 million to the local economy. As this is part of a 48-day journey, I think it can at most pay 7 visits to Johor per year. The numbers do look attractive. No one knows if 1% out of the 1,000 actually bought a property too? I think a tour of what Iskandar has to offer in terms of property ownership should also be arranged, somehow. As for my wife’s wish, I think joining this cruise from China or Hong Kong is not possible for two reasons. I am a full-time employee and it’s definitely out of my travelling budget. To those who are reading this, you should join this cruise. I think it’s an interesting one! Happy cruising!
written on 22 Dec 2015
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