Nansha's cruise tourism industry has bright future

The 2019 World Port Conference exploring cooperation between ports and cities officially opened at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Convention Center on May 8.

Experts talk about the development of Nansha's cruise tourism industry.[Photo by Liu Wei/ gznsnews.com.cn]

Nansha International Cruise Home Port will be put into operation in Hong Kong in November, with an annual design capacity of 750,000 passengers.

It will also be a Guangzhou water tourism passenger hub integrating cruise tourism, Hong Kong and Macao passenger transportation, and Pearl River inland navigation passenger transportation.

From the global cruise route to the Pearl River tour and island tour, Nansha' s cruise industry will create new products for different needs.

Pan Yuzhang, deputy director of the Administrative Committee of the Nansha Development Zone said that since the official opening of the international cruise port in Nansha Port Area in January 2016,the district' s cruise tourism has developed rapidly.

In 2018, it received 480,000 inbound and outbound cruise passengers, the third highest number in the country.

The passenger self-service clearance rate exceeds 50 percent. Under normal circumstances, the clearance time for one passenger is less than three seconds.

The Star Dream Cruise has deployed its business in Nansha, Shenzhen and Hong Kong since 2016. It was the first cruise enterprise to launch tourism routes in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

On the basis of existing routes, the World Dream cruise launched an innovative cruise product -- one day cruises of the Greater Bay Area.

Passengers can enjoy world-class dining, entertainment, leisure facilities and duty-free shopping on the luxury cruise.

Ding Renjun, general manager of China Communications Investment Holdings Co said that after the completion of the first and second phases of the Nansha cruise home port, it will have four cruise ship berths and two terminal buildings and will be the largest domestic cruise port in the country with an annual pass capacity of not less than 1.5 million.

In the future, the Guangzhou Port Authority will open up new routes to promote a single city tour to the outskirts, islands, and rivers.

From Guangzhou, people can take a boat to the Deqing Longmuzu Temple. They can also enjoy Lingnan water town scenery and explore the unique beauty of the islands.

"In 2018, when the total number of cruise tourists in the world declined, the growth rate of the entire Greater Bay Area maintained a growth rate of 12 percent, which gave the international cruise companies confidence in this market,” said the managing director of the Huanmei cruise terminal.

"Nansha cruise home port and industry have six advantages. We are confident that we will become the main cruise shipping center in the Asia-Pacific region and reach the advanced level of major international cruise ports,”added Ding Renjun, general manager of China Communications Investment Holdings Co.