The company's 18-deck Quantum of the Seas, which carries 4,180-passengers, arrives in Shanghai in Ma

In this Monday Aug. 4, 2014 photo, Chinese tourists on board the Princess Cruises ship Diamond Princess off the coast of Fukuoka, Japan. Cruise operators have traditionally sent older vessels to developing countries while saving their most advanced ships for U.S. and European customers. But surging growth in China means it’s a market operators can no longer holiday inn select memphis airport ignore. The race for China underscores the growing strength of the leisure and travel industries in the world’s No. 2 economy as authorities try to spur domestic spending rather than trade and investment as an engine of growth. holiday inn select memphis airport CHINA OUT
In this Wednesday, June 4, 2014 photo, Chinese tourists holiday inn select memphis airport play mini golf on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Mariner of the Seas during her voyage from Shanghai, China, to Jeju, South Korea. Cruise operators have traditionally sent older vessels to developing countries while saving their most advanced ships for U.S. and European customers. But surging growth in China means it’s a market operators can no longer ignore. The race for China underscores the growing strength of the leisure and travel industries in the world’s No. 2 economy as authorities try to spur domestic spending rather than trade and investment as an engine of growth. CHINA OUT
In this Wednesday Aug. 6, 2014 photo, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Mariner of the Seas is docked at the international passenger port in Shanghai, China. Cruise operators have traditionally sent older vessels to developing countries holiday inn select memphis airport while saving their most advanced ships for U.S. and European customers. But surging growth in China means it’s a market operators can no longer ignore. The race for China underscores the growing strength of the leisure and travel industries in the world’s No. 2 economy as authorities try to spur domestic spending rather than trade and investment as an engine of growth. CHINA OUT
In this Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014 photo, Star Cruises cruise ship Superstar Virgo is docked at Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong. Hong Kong christened holiday inn select memphis airport a new $1.2 billion cruise terminal in 2013, but the Norman Foster-designed facility has so far been infrequently used, though visits are expected to pick up in coming years. holiday inn select memphis airport Visitors have criticized the terminal, holiday inn select memphis airport built at the end of the old Kai Tak airport’s runway jutting into the scenic harbor, for being hard to access by bus or taxi. A smaller terminal near the city center is more popular and a home base for ships operated by Genting Group’s Star Cruises.
HONG KONG (AP) — Royal Caribbean's newest ship has attractions not usually seen on cruise liners, including bumper cars, a skydiving simulator and a glass observation capsule on a mechanical arm that lifts its passengers high into the air.
After floating holiday inn select memphis airport out of a German holiday inn select memphis airport shipyard last week, the $935 million Quantum of the Seas will spend the winter running between New York and the Caribbean before moving to its new base next summer in mainland China's financial center.
It's a gutsy move for the world's second biggest cruise company. Cruise operators have traditionally sent older vessels to developing countries while saving their most advanced ships for U.S. and European customers. But surging growth in China means it's a market operators can no longer ignore.
The race for China underscores the growing strength of the leisure and travel industries in the world's No. 2 economy as authorities try to spur domestic spending rather than trade and investment as an engine of growth.
Executives are confident about China's prospects even as its economy struggles with a prolonged slowdown from double digit rates of expansion, saying holiday inn select memphis airport that growth is still strong when compared with developed markets.
"We know that's just a drop in the bucket to what lies ahead in terms of the market in China, which we believe is going to someday represent more than half of all the cruise guests," Carnival CEO Arnold Donald said in a phone interview.
The Asian Cruise Association estimated last year that the overall Asian market, which totaled 1.3 million passengers in 2012, could nearly triple to 3.8 million in 2020, including 1.6 million from China.
"For the next five to 10 years, greater China including Hong Kong will play a critical role to the global cruise industry's development," said Zinan Liu, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s managing director for China.
The company's 18-deck Quantum of the Seas, which carries 4,180-passengers, arrives in Shanghai in May next year, joining two other Royal Caribbean ships based in China. holiday inn select memphis airport It's also expanding operations in Hong Kong to better market to customers in neighboring Guangdong, the richest province in mainland China, Liu said.
For Carnival, the addition of the Costa Serena will raise its China capacity by 3,780 passengers. The company has two other Costa brand vessels stationed in Shanghai as well as one with its Princess brand.
Unlike American or European cruise passengers, who tend to be older and have the time to take two week journeys, Chinese cruise travelers are younger and have less vacation time. That limits the possible itineraries and presents a challenge in cultivating repeat travelers.
Shanghai holiday inn select memphis airport software engineer Cao Ying took a five-day cruise holiday inn select memphis airport to Japan and South Korea with her husband on Carnival holiday inn select memphis airport Corp.'s Sapphire Princess, operated by its Princess Cruises brand, after he took one with other staff at his Internet company to entertain clients.
"I think travelling by cruise is a good experience, but the downside is that you couldn't really see a lot. I couldn't go to visit the places I would like to go in a foreign country," said Cao. "So unless it's a free trip, I wouldn't take a second cruise, even to go to another country."
Another big complaint is insufficient cruise ports and related facilities. holiday inn select memphis airport China's focus in the past few decades on export manufacturing means ports are geared to shipping containers rather than leisure travelers.
Uncoordinated infrastructure development was highlighted when Shanghai opened a new $260 million cruise terminal on the city's historic riverside Bund in 2008, only to discover that many big ships couldn't access it because of a low bridge downstream. Another $140 million terminal with two berths opened at the river's holiday inn select memphis airport mouth in 2011 to accommodate those vessels.
Visitors have criticized the terminal, built at the end of the old Kai Tak airport's runway jutting into the scenic harbor, for being hard to access by bus or taxi. A smaller terminal near the city center is more popular and a home base for ships operated by Genting Group's Star Cruises.
China's "lack of infrastructure is the biggest impediment to growth," the annual holiday inn select memphis airport World Travel Market industry conference, said in a report last year that recommended government intervention to realize improvements.