“Spectrum of the Seas”, a cruise ship of Royal Caribbean, arrived at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal on June 3. A ceremony was held to celebrate the cruise ship’s maiden trip to Shanghai.

Picture: Officials of Baoshan District and executives of Royal Caribbean cut the ribbon on the ceremony.

Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal becomes the home port for “Spectrum of the Seas” this year. Royal Caribbean, with abundant experiences in Asian market, will bring unforgettable marine holiday experiences to guests. Mr. Zong Ming was satisfied with the facilities on the cruise ship and the supporting service offered in areas nearby the home port. The facilities, including guest rooms, dining, entertainment and technological facilities are upgraded on “Spectrum of the Seas”. New categories of guest rooms, new dining concepts, extraordinary entertainment items, facilities and hi-tech interactive experiences will be created on the cruise ship.

Cruise ship tourism flourishes in China. Shanghai takes a lead in cruise ship tourism. In the past decade, Shanghai has become the second largest passenger source for cruise ships worldwide. Since Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, as a portal of cruise ships in China, opened in 2011, it has received 2000 cruise ships and more than 13 million entry and exit tourists, and ranks the first in Asia for three years and the fourth worldwide for five years. It has fifty percent of market share on China’s cruise market and created a legend for world cruise economy.

Baoshan District, relying on its advantage as a cruise home port, location advantage, first-mover advantage and policy advantage, accelerates to develop high quality cruise economy, cruise ship manufacturing, strengthen international cooperation in cruise economy and develop full industry chain of cruise economy. Baoshan District accelerates construction for the CSSC International Cruise Industrial Park and deepens strategic cooperation with CSSC, Fincantier and China Merchants Group. Baoshan has signed a large-scale “2 + 4” cruise manufacturing contracts with Carnival and Fincantieri, with a total amount of US$5 billion. This marks the beginning of China to manufacture large cruise ships.

Baoshan District continues to promote cruise ship service and trade. In addition to exit duty-free shops covering 530 square meters, Baoshan District will add two more entry duty-free shops covering 1,700 square meters in Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal. These duty-free shops will open to business this year. Meanwhile, Baoshan District focuses on promoting the cruise ship culture of Shanghai worldwide. Delegation of Baoshan District began to participate in Seatrade Cruise Global since 2016, and set up an exhibition booth in 2019 and is well received by visitors. Shanghai has made great efforts to popularize cruise ship tourism. The city has become the sponsor of Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific, a Class-A conference for global cruise industry for three years. Shanghai is also the sponsor of Shanghai Cruise Tourism Festival for six years, and published the bilingual version of “Green Book of Cruise Industry” (Chinese and English), and gave a voice from China to the global cruise industry.