Royal Caribbean To Restart Operations To China

The cruise line made it clear that it was intending to return to China.

 

According to Royal Caribbean International’s CEO Michael Bayley, the company begun to rebuild the sales strategy for China, but there's still a lot of work to do, as the goal is to be achieved by the summer of 2024. The company also stated that the Spectrum of the Seas will resume service to the Chinese market in April 2024, with four- and five-day cruises departing from Shanghai.

The change will have a significant impact on the cruise market. As CLIA reported in 2019, Asia was the third biggest source market for cruise passengers, with 3.7 million travellers. The largest source markets were North America (15.4 million) and Western Europe (7.2 million). More over half (54%) of the Asian travellers originated in China. Yet, the Chinese market, in particular, has been slower to recover and return for a variety of reasons; the country's closed-border policy continued until this year. CLIA said that barely 2,000 passengers sailed from China in 2022, despite the fact that 2 million individuals did so in 2019.

With its re-entry announcement, Royal becomes the first of the three major cruise lines to revive its China operations.

Carnival Corp.'s Costa brand, which catered to the Chinese market, was able to undergo a strategic shift thanks to the government's gradual reopening. Since then, Costa has been moving away from China, with no current intentions to return. Before the coronavirus outbreak, Costa had five ships sailing the Asian waters. Costa cut its fleet by five ships and redirected its attention to the European market as the Chinese government's ban on foreign tourists lingered on. According to Josh Weinstein, the CEO of Carnival Corp., it is still premature for the company to make plans to return to China.

Even before the outbreak, Norwegian Cruise Line scrapped ambitions to enter the Chinese market. The company first deployed the Norwegian Joy to operate year-round out of China in 2017, but in 2019 it withdrew out, citing a better use of its fleet in Alaska.

However, Royal seems to have a more optimistic outlook on the market, as it operated a fleet of ships out of China prior to the outbreak. For example, the 2019 launch of The Spectrum cruise ship took place in Shanghai. Royal was so committed to the region that in 2021 it planned to debut an Oasis-class ship, the Wonder of the Seas. The outbreak derailed those plans, therefore in 2022 the ship set sail from Fort Lauderdale.

According to Bayley, the Chinese market will recover to its pre-pandemic state. His reasoning for China's appeal was that the net income from a Chinese passenger is somewhat more than that of an American tourist.

Nevertheless, while Royal Caribbean is getting ready to return to China, CEO Jason Liberty has stressed that the corporation would keep its primary emphasis on the Caribbean, where most of its ships operate.

Travel agents report an increase in inquiries from potential passengers in the United States for transoceanic cruises, despite Royal's announcement being a major strategic step for the firm to serve Asian cruisers.

This autumn, a number of cruise companies are planning to make stops in China. Examples of such lines making port calls in Hong Kong at the year's end include Holland America Line, Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Silversea, Viking, and Windstar.

Some customers, however, remain skeptical of the Chinese government because of the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the two countries and China's decision to align itself with Russia in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs of the United States Department of State issued a travel advice on March 10 advising against travel to China due to the arbitrary application of local laws and unlawful arrests.

 

Source: travelweekly.com