An agreement has been signed that will transform the Chinese city of Shenzhen into a major international cruise port.
Genting Hong Kong, which operates Crystal Cruises, Star Cruises and the new Dream Cruises brand, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with China Merchants Shekou Holdings to jointly develop Shenzhen’s Tai Zi Bay into a major cruise port.
Genting, which already operates cruises from Hong Kong and recently started sailing from Guangzhou, plans to homeport its cruise ships in Shenzhen in future, starting with the SuperStar Virgo in November 2016.
The MoU was signed at Hilton Shenzhen Shekou Nanhai on 9 April in the presence of Ang Moo Lim, president of Star Cruises, and Xu Yongjun, managing director of China Merchants Shekou.
“A pioneer in the cruise industry in China over 20 years ago, Genting Hong Kong has, over the years, developed Sanya, Haikou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen homeports, not to mention the evergreen homeports of Hong Kong and Taipei, making us the cruise company with the longest history and with the most homeports in Greater China,” said Lim Kok Thay, chairman & CEO of Genting Hong Kong.
“Having observed the great potential of Shenzhen, from as early as 2002, we operated cruises to Vietnam from the old Shekou Port. We are pleased to see the development of Tai Zi Bay and even happier to ink a strategic alliance with China Merchant Group today, to join hands in developing cruise tourism in China.”
Shenzhen’s Tai Zi Bay Cruise Terminal will become the only port in China capable of accommodating the world’s largest cruise ships – Royal Caribbean’s 220,000-gross tonne Oasis class – when it opens in November this year.
SuperStar Virgo will become the first cruise ship to homeport at the terminal, operating four-, five- and seven-night voyages to Vietnam and Hainan.
More than 1.2 million Chinese took a cruise in 2015 and this number is expected to rise to 4.5 million in five years.
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