■ Chief Reporter of Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, Dai Xiaorong, Yi Dong, Correspondent, Li Yu
Born to the sea, thrive to the sea. In recent years, Shenzhen has launched the "engine" of the blue economy to promote the construction of a global marine center city. Under the situation and development opportunities of the increasingly superior national cruise tourism policy environment, the development prospects of Shenzhen's cruise industry are broader.
On November 11, the 25 2023th China Cruise Industry Development Conference, co-sponsored by the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government and the China Communications and Transportation Association, and jointly organized by the Cruise Yacht Branch of the China Communications and Transportation Association, the Shenzhen Municipal Transportation Bureau, the People's Government of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, and China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings Co., Ltd., opened in Nanshan, Shenzhen, and the China Cruise Yacht and Cruise Industry Alliance was unveiled at the same time. The theme of the conference is "Shenzhen Sailing, Mail All Over the World", which aims to further accelerate the development of Shenzhen's cruise industry and cruise tourism, enhance the competitiveness and innovation of emerging industries, build an influential global marine center city, and write a new chapter in the high-quality development of the ocean.
Gather momentum to build a new pattern of cruise industry development
The ocean is a strategic place for high-quality development, and it is also an important support for building a maritime power, and the cruise industry is a "business card" in the marine economic industry. Since 2018, various ministries and commissions of the state have jointly issued, issued and issued three guiding documents to promote the development of the cruise industry, reflecting the great importance that the central government attaches to the development of the cruise industry and clarifying the general direction for the development of China's cruise economy.
With the delivery of the first large cruise ship built in China on November 11, the "Aida Modu" was named; MSC Cruises, one of the world's largest family-owned cruise companies, has announced that it will return to China in 4. Royal Caribbean's 2024,16-ton ultra-large luxury cruise ship "Spectrum of the Seas", known as "Asia's best cruise ship", announced that it will return to China in 9; China Merchants Viking Cruises recently announced that it will launch three new outbound routes in 2024, and for the first time, Jeju Island in South Korea will be included in the outbound tour destination. The Asian cruise economy has returned to the center of the global cruise industry development, especially the International Cruise Lines Association (CLIA) is unanimously optimistic about the development prospects of China's cruise industry.
In addition to the opening ceremony of the cruise, a series of activities such as the Policy and Economic Forum, the Industry Leaders Forum, the Cruise Port Salon, the Cruise Repair and Supporting Industry Forum, and the Cruise Talent Education and Development Summit were held to promote international cruise ships and Chinese-funded cruise ships to work together, further build the cruise industry chain and supply chain in China and even Asia, and promote the sustainable development of the cruise industry in Shenzhen, China and Asia.
At the same time, during the conference, the China Cruise Yacht Cruise Industry Alliance was unveiled in Shenzhen, two international cruise companies MSC and Peace Boat officially signed a contract with the Shenzhen cruise home port, two cruise service companies settled in Nanshan and the "China Merchants Eden" held the inaugural ceremony of the Vietnam-Hong Kong route on November 11.
"Post" all over the world, Shenzhen to create a new business card of the blue economy
Shenzhen's cruise industry has developed rapidly in recent years. The reporter learned from the Shenzhen Municipal Transportation Bureau that the Shenzhen Shekou cruise home port, which opened in November 2016, is the only modern international cruise home port in South China that integrates sea, land, air and rail, and has cooperated with 11 internationally renowned cruise companies and 12 luxury cruise ships, covering ports in 19 countries (regions). In 34 and 2018, the number of cruise passengers received ranked fourth in the country.
In recent years, Shenzhen has introduced a series of industrial capital support policies for cruise companies. In January 2022, the Shenzhen Municipal Transport Bureau issued the "Implementation Rules for the Subsidy Funds for the Port and Shipping Industry of Shenzhen Transportation Special Funds", and the Shenzhen Qianhai Administration issued the "Measures for Promoting the High-quality Development of the Trade and Logistics Industry by the Authority of the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone of Shenzhen" in June 1, to support cruise enterprises from various aspects such as settlement of cruise enterprises, subsidies for operating groups, subsidies for cruise registration, and subsidies for cruise voyages.
In order to further promote the development of Shenzhen's cruise industry, under the active coordination of the Shenzhen Municipal Transportation Bureau, China Merchants Viking Cruises Co., Ltd., established by China Merchants Shekou and Viking Cruises, was registered in Qianhai, Shenzhen, to operate China's first and only five-star red flag luxury cruise ship "China Merchants Eden". On October 2021, 10, the first Shenzhen-Sanya-Shenzhen voyage of "China Merchants Eden" was successfully launched, realizing the opening of the first five-star red flag cruise coastal route in China. Up to now, "China Merchants Eden" has opened a number of domestic cruise routes from Shenzhen to Shanghai, Shenzhen to Hainan, Shenzhen to Xiamen, and the coastal areas of Guangdong Province, among which the Shenzhen to Shanghai route has been rated as a domestic water tourism boutique route by the Ministry of Transport.
Facing the future and building a new "platform" for the industry to take off
During the conference, two dialogues and exchanges between the government and enterprises attracted special attention.
In order to further study and optimize the visa-free entry policy for foreign tourist groups and give full play to the positive role of policy services in promoting the high-quality development of the cruise industry, the Organizing Committee of this year's Cruise Conference launched a symposium on the visa-free entry policy for foreign group cruise ships, and invited the Department of Foreigners Management of the National Immigration Administration to guide and exchange, focusing on the basic situation and existing problems of the pilot work of the visa-free entry policy for cruise ships, as well as the needs and future development suggestions for visa-free entry of cruise ships in various places.
In addition, the Crew Department of the State Maritime Administration and the Cruise Yacht Branch of the China Communications and Transportation Association, the organizer of the conference, jointly held a symposium on the development of cruise crew to understand the basic situation of the dispatch of cruise crew and listen to the problems and difficulties existing in the work and suggestions for future development.
It is understood that the China Cruise Industry Development Conference and China's cruise economy synchronous development, since its inception in 2006, has been in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Xiamen, Sanya, Shenzhen (Hong Kong), Guangzhou seven cities successfully held <> sessions, the conference to promote China's cruise industry chain supply chain of the initial framework and international integration has played an important role.