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The conference programme for Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific 2017 was announced at the press conference, and will welcome high level cruise lines, shipyards and port executives to share their views for the Asia Pacific market and for China in particular.
The cruise industry in Asia continues to thrive, and this year sees cruise ship capacity sailing in Asia at 4.24million passengers, up 31% from the 3.23million passengers capacity in 2016 and that was a 55% increase from the year before. In fact, more and bigger and dedicated ships are being deployed to the region as demand continues to rise.
Turning to source markets, of the 3.1m Asians that cruised last year, 2.1million passengers were from mainland China, a market that almost doubled as it grew by 99% last year. This makes China the world’s fastest growing major cruise source market moving up to the No. 2 source market globally in 2016, trailing only the US and ahead of Germany and the UK as source markets. Other major regional source markets were Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, India and Hong Kong.
At a press conference in Baoshan, Dr Zinan Liu, Chairman, CLIA North Asia, spoke of a decade of fast growth in China and referred to the country’s cruising industry as “phenomenal“. Liu said “Chinese consumers are identifying cruising as a new concept for holidays and we need to improve the customer experience on cruise ships sailing out of China.” He talked about not making the product too Western but finding “the sweet spot“. He suggested, the “need to optimise instead of localise“. Dr Liu also praised the Baoshan government for its foresight in building infrastructure at Wusongkou to handle two megaships simultaneously: “If there was no facility then nobody would be able to bring big ships to Shanghai“, he commented.
Su Ping, Deputy Mayor of Baoshan District pointed out that Baoshan District Government “attach great importance to the development of cruise industry attention and will strongly support the development of cruise industry.” Ping also commented that “Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal has made great progress in the past year” and that they are “determined to develop Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal to be the world’s second largest cruise port in the next five years.“
The Vice Mayor of the Shanghai Baoshan People’s Government, a partner of Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific 2017, said in 2016 the cruise terminal handled 471 cruise ships and 2.84 (embark/disembarking) passengers accounting for around half of the domestic cruise business.
Opening the press conference Mary Bond, MD Publishing and Content at Seatrade said, “It’s no secret that growth in Asia is driving cruising’s success story worldwide with more, bigger and dedicated ships being deployed to the region as demand continues to rise. If you’re looking to build connections, develop your knowledge or identify new business opportunities, Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific is the perfect platform to gain an unrivalled insight into the cruise industry’s most exciting region.“
The conference programme for Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific 2017 was announced at the press conference, and will welcome high level cruise lines, shipyards and port executives to share their views for the Asia Pacific market and for China in particular.
Subjects that will be covered in lively panel discussions include:
- Market overviews of North East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Australasia looking at source market and deployment trends and asking where to next?
- China’s Belt and Road initiative and what the benefits and impact are to the region, and how it might change the global cruise travel market dynamics.
- Shipbuilding, design & repair – with the development of cruise ship construction high on the agenda for Chinese yards, we will look at China’s current position for cruise ship building and the fundamentals for success in this sector
- Supply and procurement – the aim of this session is to create a dialogue among cruise line, shipbuilder, service providers and suppliers of both technical and hotel equipment to create a better and more efficient supply chain network across Asia.
- Port infrastructure and development in Asia – Port infrastructure investment in Asia is crucial as ships deployed in the region continue to rise in numbers and size. We ask how terminals are adapting to a changing market, review investment models and the do’s and don’ts of building a cruise terminal
- Itinerary planning and shorex – homeporting options in Asia, itinerary development, pre and post cruise programmes and innovation in shore excursions will be covered in this session.
- Environmental sustainability in cruise travel – an update on greenhouse air emissions, waste management issues related to cruise ship operations and how cruise lines, ports, local and regional governments and authorities can work collaboratively on areas of sustainability.
- Safety and security in cruise – this panel will give an holistic update on cruise ship operational safety, emergency contingency planning and legislation governing ship safety and design.
- Plus two sessions provided by Cruise Line International Association (CLIA): Itinerary Planning Workshop and Travel Agent Training. The first is a fun, interactive session role-play workshop to help those involved in shorex, ground handling, port and terminal operations understand the thinking of cruise lines when they plan itineraries. The second programme is training for travel agents with latest selling skills, product overviews and how to convert a land vacationer into a cruiser.
In addition, the event hosts, Baoshan, will also provide a range of panel discussions covering Cruise Tourism, Cruise Talent Forum, and Cruise Academic Forum.
But Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific 2017 is more than just a conference, with fam trips offering an opportunity for delegates to participate in a visit to either Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Yard & Huarun Dadong Dockyard or to see the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal. In addition, the event includes a Welcome Reception and Dinner at The Delta Hotel by Marriott follows for VIPs, international and local participants, speakers and delegates to network. On the second day, after a full day of conference, participants are invited to join the River Cruise & Dinner for more networking and time to share views and see and experience some of the local sights.
With over 40 years’ experience in cruise industry events worldwide, Seatrade is the leader in its field and has had a great presence in China with a series of successful cruise conferences during this past decade and the love affair with the wider Asia-Pacific region extends even longer with our first cruise event taking place in Singapore in 2001. Throughout the subsequent 16 years Seatrade has kept the global cruise community up to date as the Asia market has grown beyond all expectations.
“With a team of experts, in-depth knowledge of the cruise industry in China, exceptional relationships with the cruise lines and an exclusive partnership with CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), Seatrade promises to bring you an extremely successful event for our return to China in 2017” said Mary Bond.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
