Cruise tourism in China at crossroads
The number of mainland cruise passengers is expected to hit one million this year
The price of cruises has declined sharply on the mainland since June, with some holidays costing only 500 to 700 yuan – down from 4,000 to 5,000 yuan – and that’s a problem for those predicting a promising future for the market .
“Two markets in China have experienced a transition from a bull market to a bear market this year. One is stocks, the other is cruises,” said Liu Zinan, North Asia and China regional president at Royal Caribbean International, the world’s second-largest cruise ship operator.
Liu was commenting at the CruiseWorld China summit in Shanghai last week, where the four world’s biggest cruise brands and hundreds of mainland travel agents assembled to address problems facing the Chinese cruise market.
The price collapse was triggered by the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) outbreak in South Korea that peaked in June, with the country being one of the most popular cruise destinations for mainlanders.
Chinese have got used to sightseeing travel for a long time. They care about the destinations, but don’t know what a leisure vacation is
However, Mers only had a short-term impact, and a longer-than-expected trend of falling prices has raised the industry’s awareness of deeper problems.