Star Cruises sinks into losses

To Whom It May Concern:

We came across this information in the trades and thought it would be of
interest to this newsgroup as well.

Happy sailing,
John Sisker, SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at (800) 724-6644 & (pagoo ID: 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com



The country's first luxury cruise shipping venture, Star Cruises, has sailed
into losses. The world's third largest cruise liner had launched its luxury
ship SuperStar Libra in September 2005 with Mumbai as its homeport
(originating from and terminating in Mumbai).

According to highly placed sources, the anomalies in taxes on the cruise
operator, coupled with a 50 per cent load factor, have led to a loss of over
Rs 75 crore in the last cruise season. "The domestic cruise season is
between October and May. Though Star Cruises is trying for a turnaround, the
operator is likely to post losses in the current season too. The current
season is between October 2006 and May 2007," sources said. Jean Teo, senior
vice-president, sales and marketing, Star Cruises, confirmed the losses made
by the carrier adding, "We still believe in the domestic tourism potential
in this country." "The main reason for the losses is the various taxes
imposed by the government. We have requested the government to waive excise
duties and other taxes imposed on cruise tour operators as is done in
Singapore," Teo said on the sidelines of a tourism seminar organized by the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Following the poor load factor, Star
Cruises is currently in the process of modifying the itinerary by
withdrawing long cruise trips to various destinations. For instance,
SuperStar Libra has withdrawn four-night destination cruises to Kadmat
(Lakshadweep) and Goa. "Instead, we are operating short cruises, which are
popular among Indians. Over 90 per cent of the passengers are Indians,
whereas local traffic constitutes only 60 per cent. Instead, we are
operating short cruises," said Teo. "Tourists are not coming only for
cruises. They are coming to visit other places also. Lack of infrastructure
for related travel is hurting domestic cruise plans," industry sources said.
Teo said Star Cruises' Singapore and Hong Kong operations are making profits
and the company is planning to start operations in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the
government has set up a high-powered steering group on cruise shipping under
the ministry of shipping and the ministry of tourism to give a final shape
to the cruise shipping policy. This group will finalize various policies
concerning taxation, immigration, connectivity and identification of ports
to be developed for cruise shipping and issues related to customs.