China's cruise industry is expected to resume operations in the fourth quarter, industry players and researchers said at a forum in the port city of Tianjin recently.
"The past three years of the pandemic have brought great challenges to the cruise industry. I predict that international services linking cruise ports including Tianjin will resume in the last three months of 2023," said Zheng Weihang, executive vice-president and secretary-general of the Cruise and Yacht Branch of China Communications Association.
He made a cautiously optimistic forecast that this year, the number of cruise passengers will be around 200,000, or approximately 10% of the total pre-pandemic numbers in 2019.
"The development of the Chinese cruise industry is expected to enter its second golden decade in 2025 or 2026," he said.
Zheng's projection is largely based on the fact China State Shipbuilding Corporation Carnival — CSSC Carnival — signed a cooperation agreement with Binhai New Area and Tianjin Port on May 23, and announced the relocation of the CSSC Carnival's 86,000-metric-ton ultraluxury cruise ship, Mediterranea, from Europe to the Tianjin International Cruise Homeport as its port of departure.
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