Hong Kong: With Southeast Asia becoming a massive boom area for cruise tourism there are certain countries that need to massively improve their bureaucracy or risk losing out on calls by bigger ships, a leading cruise expert has told SeaShip News. Simon Doughty, Wallem Group managing director, whose agency division handles many cruise ships in the region, said: “Immigration needs to improve in places in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand and Vietnam, to make life easier.” He said the long queues to disembark comes as a shock to European travellers who are used to advanced immigration procedures which allows them to walk off ships in a far easier manner elsewhere. “Once these big ships come they will have to improve,” he said, noting how it was especially frustrating for travellers landing at places for a short amount of time, such as Halong Bay or Phuket. [06/03/13]
