中國啟動進軍郵輪業的計劃：「沒有回頭路」 (2/2)

China kicks off its plan to take on the cruise industry: 'There's no turning back' (2/2)

Hannah Towey,Brittany Chang - Business Insider

Sat, September 30, 2023 at 2:55 a.m. PDT

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Cruise companies weigh joining or competing against China

US and European cruise companies attempting to grow their footprint in Asia are now faced with a choice: partner with China's state-backed cruise enterprise or compete against them.

Adora Cruises, which will offer international voyages from China, is a joint venture between state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and Miami-based Carnival Corporation.

Separately, Viking Cruises, a European cruise line with main headquarters in Switzerland, partnered with China Merchants Group to create another domestic brand with cruises along China's coast and to various Chinese islands.

Both joint ventures have scheduled cruises this year, while purely international operators like Royal Caribbean and MSC are further behind — with China operations scheduled to resume in spring 2024.

In some cases, a China partnership is necessary. International companies are prohibited from operating purely domestic routes along China's coast, for example.

Despite the hype around China's potential for cruise tourism, there's still unknowns about the local market.

"The question is, how big is the domestic market?" Cao said. "The next 10 years will be quite interesting. A lot of things can go right or go wrong."

The cruise industry is uniquely positioned to make some risky bets, however, since its assets are mobile. In 2018, Norwegian Cruise Line moved the Norwegian Joy — a ship specifically designed for Chinese passengers — from China to Alaska. Following the move and $50 million in renovations, Andy Stuart, the cruise line's CEO at the time, told Skift that "China's a good market. But it's not as good as Alaska."

China built its first cruise ship, but can it supply its 20 million parts?

Large cruise ships cost more than $1 billion to build and require 20 million parts from hundreds of suppliers, Yang Guobing, chairman of CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping, told the state-owned Global Times. That's 10 times more parts than large aircraft and 50 times more parts than high-speed trains, he said.

China has been expanding local supply chains in high-tech industries, such as electric vehicles and commercial aircraft, with the goal of becoming less reliant on foreign suppliers. But it still has ways to go when it comes to building cruise ships.

While the Adora Magic City was constructed in a Chinese shipyard, many parts were likely imported from different countries, Cao told Insider. But the government has long-term plans to create their own domestic supply chain, he said.

"It's part of [China's] economic ambition," Cao said. "There's no turning back. It took them over 10 years to prepare and finally get to where they are today."

Translation

（繼續）

郵輪公司考慮加入中國還是與中國競爭

試圖擴大在亞洲業務的美國和歐洲郵輪公司現在面臨一個選擇：與中國國有郵輪企業合作或與之競爭。

Adora Cruises 是國有的中國船舶工業集團公司 (CSSC) 和總部位於邁阿密的嘉年華公司的合資企業，將提供從中國出發的國際航線。

另外，總部位於瑞士的歐洲郵輪公司維京郵輪與招商局集團合作，打造了另一個國內品牌，提供中國沿海和中國各島嶼的郵輪服務。

兩家合資企業都安排了今年的郵輪航線，而皇家加勒比和 MSC 等專門國際線的營運商則更加落後 - 中國業務計劃於 2024 年春季恢復。

在某些情況下，與中國的合作是必要的。 例如，中國禁止國際公司在沿海運營純粹國內的航線。

儘管中國郵輪旅遊的潛力被大肆宣傳，但當地市場仍有未知數。

Cao說: “問題是，國內市場有多大？”; “接下來的10年將非常有趣。很多事情可能會順利，也可能不順利。”

然而，由於郵輪行業的資產具有流動性，因此其處於獨特的地位，它可以進行一些冒險的投資。 2018年，挪威郵輪公司將專為中國乘客設計的 Norwegian Joy 號郵輪從中國移至阿拉斯加。 在搬遷和耗資 5,000 萬美元進行翻修後，時任郵輪公司首席執行官 Andy Stuart 告訴 Skift， “中國是一個很好的市場，但不及阿拉斯加。”

中國建造了第一艘郵輪，但它能供應2000萬個零件嗎？

中船嘉年華郵輪董事長 Yang Guobing 告訴國營《環球時報》，大型郵輪的建造成本超過10億美元，需要數百家供應商提供2,000萬個零件。 他說，這比大型飛機多了 10 倍，比高鐵多了 50 倍。

中國一直在擴大電動車和商用飛機等高科技產業的本地供應鏈，目標是減少對外國供應商的依賴。 但在建造遊輪方面，它還有漫長的路要走。

Cao告訴 Insider，雖然 Adora Magic City 是在中國造船廠建造的，但許多零件可能是從不同國家進口的。 但他表示，政府有建立自己的國內供應鏈的長期計劃。

Cao說: “這是（中國）經濟雄心的一部分” 。 “沒有回頭路了。他們花了10多年的時間來準備，終於走到了今天的位置。”

So, the cruising industry is reviving in China as it tries to build its own cruisers. China has been expanding local supply chains in high-tech industries with the goal of becoming less reliant on foreign suppliers. But there is a long way to go when comes to building cruise ships. I am interested in knowing how big the share China will get eventually in the cruising industry.