With more shoreline than most other countries, it comes as no surprise that China's ports are among the world's busiest. But it's not all cargo, containers and commerce. Southern China's Guangzhou city is ready to unveil its newest cruise terminal by the end of this year. And many believe the region's Greater Bay Area will become a new boost to the country's maritime tourism. CGTN's He Weiwei has more from the World Ports Conference.

Luxurious rooms, swimming pools, duty-free stores.

All that and more are what you find on a "floating hotel".

It's what many people call a cruise.

Chinese people love them. In 2017, China had nearly 70% of the cruise market share in the Asia-Pacific region.

JEFF BENT, MANAGING DIRECTOR WORLDWIDE CRUISE TERMINALS "The vast majority of cruise vacations are within Asia, some of the popular destinations are to Okinawa in Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, etc."

Since 2006, China has seen an annual growth of over 40% in cruise bookings.

But last year, the industry showed signs of cooling down.

According to one report, 4.2 million passengers went on cruises in China in the first ten months of 2018. A growth of only 2% year-on-year. And the number of cruise tours even dropped 13%, with 790 in total.

JEFF BENT, MANAGING DIRECTOR WORLDWIDE CRUISE TERMINALS "I think that's because the travel restrictions on Korea were put into place. When they stop going to Korea, the itinerary became less interesting, and the ticket prices dropped."

HE WEIWEI GUANGZHOU "While the industry has experienced a nationwide decline, there was an exception - the Guangdong- HK- Macao Greater Bay Area - where cruise numbers are up."

The region's major ports – Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong saw a total of 2.5 million cruise passengers last year, a 13% annual growth. 

RAYMOND LIM JIUN YAN, SENIOR VP PLANNING AND PORT MANAGEMENT, GENTING CRUISE LINES "We'll see an increase in 2019. New products are coming out. We'll have a new cruise ship coming to this region in 2021."

And more good news is coming. To develop the industry, a new cruise home port will be put into use this year at Guangzhou's Nansha port, a step forward in implementing the blueprint of the Greater Bay Area.

PAN YUZHANG, DEPUTY DIRECTOR ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE OF NANSHA AREA, GUANGDONG FREE TRADE ZONE "We will cultivate a complete cruise industry chain, attract more cruise liners to the region, and establish a cruise industry park."

The new cruise port will be the largest of its kind in Guangdong province.

HWW, CGTN, GUANGZHOU.