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When it comes to Yangtze River cruise ships, the 2015 sinking of the "Oriental Star" should still be in the public's memory. Its accident occurred in the Jianli section of Hubei Province in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River - it is inevitable that the public will have lingering fears. The most important point that the cruise industry must face in order to seek development opportunities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is the completely different safety issue from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
However, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are wide and deep, capable of carrying luxury cruise ships comparable to international cruise ships. Currently, river sea intermodal cargo ships can directly reach Nanjing, providing the possibility of river sea intermodal transportation for luxury cruise ships - on one cruise ship, one can enjoy the vast sea and the profound cultural heritage along the Yangtze River at the same time, which is such a desirable thing. The most important thing is that the competition among cruise ships in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is far away from the upstream, and with the strong support of various policies for Yangtze River cruise ships, the development of cruise tourism in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River has become a new blue ocean that various cruise companies are competing to seize.
The Symposium on the Development of Cruise Tourism in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River was held on Shuangshan Island in Zhangjiagang. Representatives from the Ministry of Transport, Yangtze River Navigation Administration (Changhang Bureau), Jiangsu Maritime Safety Administration, Zhangjiagang Municipal Government and 11 enterprises engaged in the Yangtze River cruise industry discussed the opportunities and challenges of the development of the Yangtze River cruise industry together.
The reporter from the Shipping Transaction Bulletin was fortunate enough to follow Chongqing Guanda Group (Century Cruise) on its first voyage of the "Century Emperor" cruise ship in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It sailed upstream from the North Bund in Shanghai to the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, Nanjing, passing through Zhangjiagang and Taizhou (the return route was preliminarily determined to be Nanjing Yangzhou Suzhou/Wuxi Shanghai). Through this trip, the reporter from the Shipping Transaction Bulletin has gained a sensory understanding of the cruise market in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Generally speaking, there are many development opportunities in the cruise market in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
At present, the 12.5-meter deep water channel regulation project below Nanjing on the Yangtze River has been preliminarily completed, and the Yangtze River channel regulation is moving towards the middle reaches. The Qichun Channel Regulation Project in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River started on November 8, 2017, marking the beginning of the construction of the "Wuhan Anqing 6-meter water depth and Wuhan Yichang 4.5-meter water depth channel regulation projects" (the "645 Project"). The implementation of the "645 Project" will effectively solve the problem of "deep at both ends and shallow in the middle" of the Yangtze River main waterway, forming a "water expressway" connecting the four provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Anhui, and the overall navigation capacity of the Yangtze River main waterway will also leap forward. The "Century Emperor" cruise ship that the reporter of the Shipping Transaction Bulletin boarded has a draft of less than 3 meters (2.6 meters), and from the water depth conditions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, it can fully carry larger tonnage cruise ships.
Fan Yonghui, Director of the Domestic Shipping Management Department of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, pointed out at the symposium that in the future, the development of water transportation will focus on high-end tourism, accompanied by changes in the traditional transportation structure. Yangtze River cruise ships can learn from the experience of international cruise ships, not with the destination as the goal, but with a focus on enjoying the journey on board. Fan Yonghui emphasized that in the current context of developed fast transportation such as high-speed rail and airplanes, if cruise ships are positioned as destination tourism, the prospects are bleak, so the positioning of cruise ships themselves should be high.
According to Associate Professor Cheng Juehao from the Asia Cruise School of Shanghai Maritime University, currently Chinese inland cruise ships can approach the length limit of 150 meters infinitely, making them closer to the facilities of international cruise ships. The river sea intermodal transportation of cruise ships will have great prospects, and Yangtze River cruise ships can connect Xiamen Port, Beibu Gulf Islands, Zhoushan Island, and even Taiwan Island (when conditions are ripe). Cheng Juehao also mentioned the current South China Sea cruise business, where 4-day and 3-night tickets can be sold for 6000-10000 yuan, which is quite different from the current Yangtze River cruise ticket prices of two to three thousand yuan.
Compared to the natural scenery of the current crowded cruise ships in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the scenic spots along the way of cruise ships in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are superior in terms of culture. According to Zhu Ruming, Deputy Director of Changhang Navigation Bureau, the scenic spots below Nanjing on the Yangtze River are very different from those upstream, representing a culture: "Many foreign companies want to open routes from Wuhan to Shanghai, but they do not value natural landscapes." According to Zhu Ruming, cruise tourism in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River has developed to a certain extent, and three companies, Chongqing New Century, Oriental Royal, and Century Cruise, are already carrying out tourism in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which still has prospects.
At present, due to various reasons, the capacity of Three Gorges cruise ships will remain relatively stable. Data shows that under the guidance of national ship standardization policies, Yangtze River passenger ships are becoming more tourist oriented and comfortable. In 2017, the Yangtze River had more than 40 tourist passenger ships, with a year-on-year decrease in the number of various types of ships and an increase in the carrying capacity (number of passengers) of each ship. Passenger transport enterprises were optimized and adjusted to more than 30. The vast majority of these cruise ship capacities were concentrated in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the cruise ship capacity in Chongqing alone was magnificent (see table).
At the symposium, Zhu Ruming revealed three pieces of information regarding the transportation capacity of Yangtze River cruise ships: firstly, at a certain stage, the main body of cruise companies will no longer be added, and the number of ships will basically remain at the current dozens; Secondly, ships built before 2003 are not allowed to operate in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; The third is the orderly allocation of transportation capacity indicators in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Golden cruise ships are not allowed to pass through Yichang, and Century Cruise ships will add 3 cruise ships as planned. It can be seen that the current regulation of transportation capacity is beneficial for enterprises engaged in cruise business in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
As the "Century Emperor" cruise ship embarked on its journey, reporters from the "Shipping Transaction Bulletin" found that various coastal regions have a very positive attitude towards the development of the Yangtze River cruise industry. Against the backdrop of 'not pursuing large-scale development on the Yangtze River, but jointly focusing on large-scale protection', cities along the Yangtze River will undergo transformation and upgrading to varying degrees.
Taking Zhangjiagang, one of the top 100 economic counties, as an example, its annual fiscal revenue is as high as 21 billion yuan, and it presents itself in an industrial image. Zhangjiagang Mayor Huang Ji clearly stated that the docking of cruise ships is of great significance to Zhangjiagang City and is conducive to the comprehensive acceleration of the construction of Shuangshan Island. Therefore, Zhangjiagang City will vigorously adjust its ports and docks, and within three years, adjust its production coastline to a living coastline for tourism strategy. Layout construction, gradually forming a cruise homeport with a complete set of international cruise ships, inland river cruise ships, and Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal cruise ships. Promote the transformation and upgrading of Zhangjiagang through supply side structural reform.
Li Zhaowei, Deputy Mayor of Zhangjiagang City, said that Zhangjiagang has a clear idea of building a cruise port. Therefore, Zhangjiagang is now open for port docking, and cruise ships docking at Zhangjiagang Port are free of charge. Zhangjiagang needs to develop commercial complexes such as onshore supporting catering to drive local economic development. This time, Zhangjiagang has done four aspects of work for Century Cruise: first, service guarantee work, providing shore power, shore water, etc; The second is to do a good job in connecting the resources of the entire coastline scenic spots, linking the tourism resources of Jiangyin, Wuxi, Changzhou, Changshu and other places to attract cruise tourists; Thirdly, promote the local customer base effectively; Fourthly, there is a willingness to reach a consensus on the service details of Century Cruise under the leadership of Changhang Bureau.
It is precisely because the government provides such thoughtful services that Liu Yan, Vice President of Century Cruise, has made it clear that the reason why the "Century Emperor" cruise ship dares to take the lead and operate on the Shanghai Nanjing route is largely due to policy support from cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River: "Downstream governments are creating conditions to meet the demands of cruise ship docking, so even if companies need to invest in the early stages, the" Century Emperor "cruise ship is willing to come downstream to test the waters
Up to now, the main unfavorable factors for the slow development of the cruise industry in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River may be summarized into two points: first, safety; Secondly, the supporting facilities of the dock are outdated.
According to Wang Shiming, Deputy Director of Jiangsu Maritime Safety Administration, there are hundreds of days with winds of level 6 or above in Jiangsu Province, and cruise ships in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are therefore facing the requirement of avoiding wind and waves. Zhu Ruming stated that the main issue in developing tourism in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River is safety. Above Nanjing is relatively safe, but the density and types of ships used for travel are not large. Below Nanjing, it is less safe. Capacity control is mainly based on safety considerations.
Jiang Zongjin, Chairman of the Tourism Passenger Transport Special Committee of the Yangtze River Branch of the China Shipowners Association, said that the current situation of Yangtze River cruise ships can be summarized as "21st century cruise ships, 1970s and 1980s docks", which means that cruise ship docks are seriously lagging behind real needs. Jiang Zongjin stated that without the support of the government and regulatory authorities, it is impossible for the tourism industry to develop solely through the market, as the return on investment of the port is not high. Jiang Zongjin believes that people engaged in the dock industry and managing docks are particularly concerned about the safety of cruise ship docking, but their awareness of corresponding supporting facilities is insufficient, which is the reason for the lag of docks.
Jiang Zongjin suggested that the Ministry of Transport should include the construction of cruise terminals in the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. In addition, he suggested that the fees and management of the dock should be standardized to solve many historical problems such as dock fees and stops. In addition, Jiang Zongjin suggested establishing the Yangtze River Tourism Alliance to explore issues such as "opening up a breakthrough for inbound tourism from Yangtze River cruise ships".
