Cruising to new heights

On May 26, Blue Dream Star became the first outbound cruise from China since the onset of the pandemic. Since then, Blue Dream Cruises have organized 16 voyages and welcomed about 22,000 tourists. On June 18, luxury cruise liner China Merchants-Yidun, set sail from the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal on a 15-day round-trip to Japan.

Since the resumption of travel, the city's cruise industry has generated more than 300 million yuan ($41.6 million) in ticket sales, notes Zhu.

On Aug 11, an international cruise for domestic outbound groups sailed from the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, taking around 1,000 passengers to Fukuoka, Kumamoto and other parts of Japan.

He Jialing, a travel blogger from Shanghai, was one of those onboard.

"I was really excited when I boarded. After such a long wait because of the pandemic, I am finally able to take my child on a trip abroad again," He says.

Shanghai is a key player in the development of the Chinese cruise market, which underwent rapid growth before the pandemic struck. The number of international cruise passengers in the city increased from just 26,000 in 2006, to a whopping 3.78 million in 2019.

By the end of 2019, its ports had received some 3,000 cruise ships, and approximately 15.3 million tourists.

"Though Shanghai was relatively late to the game, it has obvious advantages for further development," says Zhu.

"It has an excellent geographic location in the center of China's coastline, and a big market of nearly 25 million residents with a per capita disposable income of close to 80,000 yuan. These factors result in a high demand for holiday leisure offerings. There is also a huge passenger flow from the Yangtze River Delta."

Zhang Jie, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, points out that data from around the world show that cruise markets tend to develop quickly when the per capita GDP exceeds10,000.

"As for Shanghai, the per capita GDP has already exceeded25,000, and this will be the foundation for the development of its cruise economy," he says.

"Shanghai had good cooperative ties with the international cruise community before the pandemic, and it is believed that more international cruise companies will speed up their return to the Chinese market."

Global cruise companies have indeed been increasing efforts to tap the Shanghai market. Royal Caribbean International and the Mediterranean Shipping Company, for example, have already announced plans to operate cruise routes from Shanghai starting next year.