president China and North Asia Pacific
Swimming against the current, Royal Caribbean International (RCI) president China and North Asia Pacific, Zinan Liu, said “we do not do purpose-build (ships) for the China market and we never said any ship was built for China”.
Chinese travellers do not like purely Chinese products, said Liu. Rather, they like international products with some Asian or Chinese elements.
Royal Caribbean has been successfully tapping Chinese cruise passengers by homeporting in China and Asia since 2008 – without custom-made Chinese ships. Many Chinese guests are not seeking fly-cruise vacations, and homeports in the region with their friendly visa policies make them attractive to this group of people, he pointed out.
“Chinese consumers enjoy a three-year multi-entry visa to Singapore while ports of call such as Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam offer convenient visa processing for cruise travellers. Australia also has friendly visa procedures for the Chinese. Plus, when China enters its winter season, Australia and Singapore are suitable for cruising,” he said.
Recounting its China milestones, Liu said it first tested the waters with Rhapsody of the Seas in 2008. In 2009, Legend of the Seas drew attention to cruising among consumers and the trade, and also hosted one of the most successful corporates charters in China.
In 2012, Voyager of the Seas arrived and “was referred to as the ship that brought China into the Super Boat era.”
“In 2013, with the arrival of Mariner of the Seas in China, we celebrated the fourth year in a row where there was a 100 per cent increase of passenger capacity in this region. Finally in 2015, the arrival of Quantum of the Seas, the most technologically advanced ship in the world, moved us from the Super Boat era to the Quantum era,” he said.
Even with the strong Royal Caribbean development in China, the penetration rate of cruising is far behind the rate of the North American market, thus great potential still awaits.
“The market is becoming mature and guests now are focusing more on the ship itself instead of the port-of-call destinations,” said Liu.
