Cruise ship tourism booming

The big environmental stories in the Chinese media this week (2-8 August)

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has issued a plan for Shanghai to develop China’s first “cruise tourism demonstration area”. The plan includes a 1,700 square metre duty-free shopping centre in the city’s cruise ship port which will be open when Shanghai holds the China International Import Expo trade fair in November.

According to Xinhua, Shanghai is determined to become a “cruise tourism hub in the Asian-Pacific region” and “a world-class cruise home-port and tourism destination”. 

China already has the second-largest cruise market in the world. Thirteen million individual passenger trips have been made from Shanghai’s Wusong Cruise Port since it opened in 2011. Last year, 2.4 million people from China took a cruise, more than triple the number in 2014. 

Shanghai is not the only Chinese city with an eye on cruise tourism. Earlier this year, Hainan announced it will start a cruise tourism pilot as part of efforts to promote its Free Trade Zone brand. 

China also wants a slice of the cruise-ship building market, which used to be dominated by European firms. In 2017, China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) worked with Italian rival Fincantieri to construct two cruise vessels for America’s largest cruise line, Carnival. In 2018, CSSC signed a US$5 billion contract with Carnival and Fincantieri to construct more ships. 

According to AFP, about 30 million people are expected to go on a cruise this year worldwide, nearly 70% higher than a decade ago. The booming industry has sparked fears among environmentalists, since cruises pollute the air and water. 

Read more about cruise ship pollution here, and coastal shipping emissions here.