Chinese tourists ready to hop aboard cruise trips abroad

试点恢复沪深港口 出境邮轮游市场升温

US-based cruise line operator Royal Caribbean International said it has seen growing demand from Chinese travelers for cruise trips abroad and the company is fully confident in the recovery trend of China's ocean cruise market.

美国邮轮运营商皇家加勒比国际邮轮有限公司表示，中国游客对海外邮轮旅行的需求不断增长，该公司对中国远洋邮轮市场的复苏趋势充满信心。

Royal Caribbean, which mainly operates large tonnage cruise ships, expects that in the second half of this year, China's cruise tourism market will witness a restart, with the further easing of outbound travel policies and reopening of cruise terminals. In 2024, China's cruise market is expected to enter a recovery stage, it predicted.

主要经营大吨位邮轮的皇家加勒比公司预计，今年下半年，随着出境游政策的进一步放宽和邮轮码头的重新开放，中国邮轮旅游市场将迎来重启。预计2024年，中国邮轮市场将进入复苏阶段。

"On the demand side, people's desire for reunions and flexibility to travel remains unchanged, but such demand was held up before. We are optimistic about Chinese consumers' willingness to take cruise trips again," said Liu Zinan, senior vice-president of Royal Caribbean Group and chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises Asia.

皇家加勒比集团高级副总裁、亚洲区主席刘淄楠说：“在需求方面，人们对团聚和旅行灵活性的渴望没有改变，但这种需求以前被搁置了。我们对中国消费者再次选择邮轮旅行的意愿持乐观态度。”

After the Chinese government announced the resumption of quarantine-free cross-border trips in December, Royal Caribbean started receiving a growing number of inquiries from Chinese travelers about taking cruise trips abroad.

去年12月，中国政府宣布不再对入境人员和货物等采取检疫传染病管理措施，皇家加勒比邮轮公司开始收到越来越多的中国游客关于乘邮轮出国旅行的咨询。

Since China relaxed COVID-19-related entry restrictions on Jan 8, Chinese tourists have indicated a strong interest in taking cruise trips overseas, especially in Southeast Asia, and booking volumes have been high.

自1月8日中国放松新冠疫情相关入境限制以来，中国游客对海外，特别是东南亚的邮轮旅行表现出了浓厚的兴趣，预订量一直很高。

Royal Caribbean said the most popular route for Chinese tourists has been from Singapore to destinations in Southeast Asia, which are mainly short and medium-length routes lasting from four to seven days.

皇家加勒比公司表示，最受中国游客欢迎的旅行线路是从新加坡到东南亚目的地，主要是4到7天的中短途线路。

Chinese tourists recognize and are familiar with those destinations and flight ticket prices from China to Singapore are more acceptable compared with prices to Europe and the US.

中国游客认识并熟悉这些目的地，与前往欧洲和美国的机票价格相比，从中国到新加坡的机票价格更便宜。

In March, China resumed outbound group tours to 40 more selected countries after resuming overseas group tours to 20 countries in February. With the further possible expansion of selected destinations and a growing number of international flights with reasonable ticket prices, booking volumes of overseas cruise trips may continue to rise, Royal Caribbean said.

继2月恢复赴20个国家的出境团队旅游后，今年3月，中国又恢复了赴40个国家的出境团队旅游。皇家加勒比公司表示，随着国内出境跟团游目的地的进一步增加，以及越来越多价格合理的国际航班的恢复，海外邮轮旅行的预订量可能会继续上升。

International cruise trips that depart from Chinese mainland's home ports, Shanghai and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, had been given the green light to resume after a suspension of over three years, according to a notice released by the Ministry of Transport in late March.

根据交通运输部3月底发布的一份通知，从上海、深圳邮轮港口出发的国际邮轮运输，在暂停了三年多之后，已经被批准复航。

"Next, the revenue growth of China's domestic cruise tourism market is expected to mainly come from routes that depart from Shanghai and Tianjin to various destinations in Japan, and tourists will mainly consist of families and senior groups," Liu said.

刘淄楠说：“接下来，中国国内邮轮旅游市场的收入增长预计将主要来自从上海和天津出发到日本各个目的地的旅行线路，游客将主要由家庭成员和老年人组成。”

Before the pandemic outbreak, China's cruise tourism market experienced a golden decade of growth. Currently, China stands as the second-largest cruise passenger market after the US, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

新冠疫情暴发前，中国邮轮旅游市场经历了黄金十年的增长。根据国际邮轮协会的数据，目前，中国是仅次于美国的第二大邮轮客运市场。

Although COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the global cruise tourism market, the sector is on a recovery track and passenger traffic in 2024 is likely to exceed levels seen in 2019 when there was no pandemic, the CLIA forecasted.

国际邮轮协会预测，尽管新冠疫情对全球邮轮旅游市场产生了负面影响，但该行业正在复苏，2024年的客运量可能会超过2019年疫情前的水平。

Meanwhile, in January, Norwegian cruise line operator Viking Cruises began sales of its European inland river cruise routes for Chinese tourists. Its 11-day Rhine River cruise has been particularly popular, according to the company.

与此同时，今年1月，挪威邮轮运营商维京邮轮开始向中国游客销售其欧洲内河邮轮航线。据该公司称，“11日莱茵河魅力之旅”特别受欢迎。

来源：中国日报

编辑：yaning

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