On March 30, China’s Ministry of Transport issued a green light on international cruise ship homeporting in China based on a Pilot Trial program period between six months to one year tentatively from Shanghai or Shenzhen homeport, sailing itineraries visiting the neighbouring region.
More areas of China’s homeports shall be restored gradually. They will be optimized and adjusted in due course according to the national epidemic prevention and control policy, inbound and outbound tourism policies, and market conditions.
MSC Cruises is the other international line which is believed to be interested in the restart in China and is said to announce its future deployment plan in the Chinese market at an appropriate time.
China Merchants Viking Cruises, which currently operates CM-Yidun in Domestic cruises, is also in the process of planning an international route to Japan on a 15-day cruise tour in the coming June or July, marking the resumption of global cruise operations in China.
Following the statement given by China’s Ministry of Transport, Royal Caribbean China emphasizes that its return to international cruises is expected to happen soon.
The leading cruise operator stated in a statement, “We have been waiting for the return of vessels to China for more than three years, and now we will again participate in MOT’s resumption of cruise initiatives to return to service and take to neighbouring countries.”
According to the Chinese Ministry of Transport, the growth of the Chinese cruise industry in the ten years before COVID demonstrates how cruising is desired among Chinese consumers as an advanced vacation style.
Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas was the only foreign cruise ship stationed and working in Asia during the epidemic. However, many obstacles are in the way of the Chinese cruise industry’s revival. The cruise market’s experience in Europe and the United States demonstrates that rebuilding the structure will take longer than expected.
