Wusongkou cruise port targets 300 ship visits a year by 2025
The inaugural voyage of the MSC Bellissima will depart from Shanghai on March 16, 2024.
Shanghai's Wusongkou International Cruise Liner Port aims to become a major destination for international cruise ships, targeting 300 ship visits and 2.7 million visitors annually by 2025.
Industry leaders from around the world, domestic cruise companies, and cultural and tourism enterprises gathered at a salon at the port on Tuesday to discuss strategies for attracting international cruise brands and establishing the Shanghai International Cruise Tourism Resort.
MSC, the world's largest family-owned cruise company, announced at the salon that it plans to return to the China market in 2024. The inaugural voyage of the MSC Bellissima will depart from Shanghai on March 16 next year. Booking services for the company's routes have opened.
The initial spring itineraries for the MSC Bellissima in 2024 will offer five to six-day cruises to popular destinations including Fukuoka, Kagoshima and Sasebo in Japan.
The company said the ship aims to provide passengers with an immersive experience of neighboring countries and cities.
The MSC Bellissima has pools and waterslides on deck.
Royal Caribbean has also announced its return to Shanghai in April of next year, operating over 40 voyages with the ship, Spectrum of the Seas, from the Wusongkou port.
Adora Cruises and TUI Cruises are also set to dock at the Wusongkou port, indicating a gathering of renowned global cruise brands in Baoshan in 2024, the district government said.
Baoshan has unveiled its action plan for promoting the "high-quality development of Shanghai's international cruise economy (2023-2025)."
The plan aims to establish a global cruise operation headquarters and develop the Shanghai International Cruise Tourism Resort, focusing on cruises, sightseeing boats and yachts.
By 2025, Baoshan aims to attract 3 billion yuan (US$417 million) in project development investment and add 300,000 square meters of cultural, commercial, and tourism complexes around the Wusongkou port.
The plan also emphasizes the target of hosting 300 international cruise ship visits and welcoming 2.7 million visitors annually.
Efforts will be made to attract cruise headquarters enterprises, including at least one competitive domestic cruise brand.
Specific measures include improving cruise port infrastructure, enhancing port entry and exit supervision services, improving transportation systems, and establishing a robust emergency management system.
The interior of the MSC Bellissima features a high-quality shopping area.
The plan also aims to create a "highland for the aggregation of the cruise industry with radiating driving effects."
Efforts will focus on constructing a cruise operation headquarters base, promoting complementary cruise industry developments, expanding cruise supplies, and actively cultivating cultural, tourism and leisure industries.
Additionally, a "highland for demonstrating leading-edge innovation in the cruise ecosystem" will be established, with a focus on innovation in cruise operation services and regulatory mechanisms, standardizing cruise tourism market management, enhancing international influence, and improving the cruise talent support system, according to the district government.
The city government has given a green light to smoothly restore international cruise liner services at the Wusongkou port, once the busiest in Asia and the world's No. 4.
It is part of Shanghai's efforts to boost economic recovery and make the cruise liner industry an economic highlight of the city.
Since opening in October 2011, the Wusongkou terminal has welcomed 2,200 cruise ships carrying over 14 million passengers. Several liners from the world's top cruise companies – Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, MSC and Genting – have made their maiden voyages in Asia from the terminal. The terminal is able to moor four luxury liners at the same time after a major expansion in 2019.
Wusongkou is a historic landmark of Shanghai. Its lighthouse was once the tallest site of the city and remains a national geological landmark.
Industry leaders from around the world gathered at a salon at the Wusongkou port on Tuesday to discuss strategies for attracting international cruise brands.
