Genting Hong Kong, which made headlines recently with concerns that its cruise line would not survive the Covid-19 pandemic, has now announced a new series of “seacation” cruises from Hong Kong. The cruises will start in July.
Passengers must be fully vaccinated and ships may only operate at 50 percent capacity. The cruises are at sea only with no port visits, according to Genting.
“These new Super Summer Seacations will provide Hong Kong residents the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of cruising again and will bring much-needed benefits to the tourism industry,” said Kent Zhu, president of Genting Dream Cruises. Zhu called Hong Kong “We will bring Genting Dream into Hong Kong by June to begin her quarantine process so that she will be ready for July sailings in time for the summer holidays.”
The company had also offered “cruise to nowhere” packages from Singapore and Taiwan but suspended the Taiwan outings due to a new Covid outbreak and reduced the Singapore occupancy to just 25 percent, reported Asia Gaming Brief.
Revenues for the year totaled US$366.8 million, down from US$1.6 billion in 2019, AGB reported. The group recorded an EBITDA loss of $385.8 million and a net loss of US$1.7 billion for 2020. Genting reported that its financial liabilities exceeded its assets by approximately US$3.3 billion.
According to a report in Cruise Industry News, Genting believes the restart will help to revitalize the ailing travel sector across the supply chain.
Meanwhile, Genting Hong Kong hopes its lenders will agree to a restructuring and recapitalization of the company’s debts.
