Shanghai Cruise Ship Port: China's largest city becoming a hub for luxury tours

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02:12

Boasting Asia's largest cruise ship port, Shanghai has become the hub of many luxury tours. It comes at a time when China's growing middle class are looking for different travel experiences and adventures. Yang Chengxi visited the port to find out more.

This is the 2000th cruise ship to dock at Shanghai's Wusongkou cruise port. Called The Spectrum of the Seas, it is 348 meters long and 41 meters wide, making it the biggest cruise ship in all of Asia. Monday marked its inaugural voyage from Shanghai.

MICHAEL BAYLEY, PRESIDENT & CEO ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL "We know that the largest outbound market now in the world is the Chinese outbound market. A lot of Chinese consumers today are looking for experiences, adventure, they want to go to different destinations."

YANG CHENGXI SHANGHAI "The growing taste of the Chinese middle class for luxury travel says a lot about how this country's vacation market has evolved."

Royal Caribbean says the number of their international guests departing from Chinese ports has doubled in the past five years, and it is expected to reach 40 thousand this year."

MICHAEL BAYLEY, PRESIDENT & CEO ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL "When I first came to China in 2008 or 2009, we saw the opportunity of developing the cruise market. The growth of demand in the Chinese market has been very strong. It represents probably today around 8 percent of our total business."

Shanghai's Wusongkou port had spent 145 million U.S. dollars on expansion in 2015. With its completion last year, the port can hold four cruise ships simultaneously, making it the biggest port of its kind in Asia.

WENT TIEHUI VICE MAYOR OF SHANGHAI "The cruise ship industry plays an important role in Shanghai's effort to become a world class tourism city. We aim to be in the first tier of the world's cruise ports."

In a recent document, Shanghai municipal government said it aims for the city's cruise ports to dock over 500 ships and service over 4 million people annually by 2022. YCX, CGTN, SHANGHAI.