Carnival Cruise Line and AIDA Cruises to join Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises in China
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Carnival Corporation & plc is to become the first global company to operate four cruise brands in 2017 when AIDA Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line join Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises in the country.
Part of Carnival Corporation’s long-term, multi-brand strategy to provide all segments of the Chinese market with a variety of vacation options, the new deployment plans will mean that four of Carnival Corporation’s ten cruise brands will have at least one homeported ship in China from 2017.
“As more and more Chinese are discovering why cruising is the best vacation experience, they are having a great time on our Costa and Princess brands, and we look forward to even more Chinese travellers enjoying vacations on our AIDA and Carnival brands,” said Arnold Donald, Carnival Corporation’s CEO. “This is an exciting time in China for the cruise industry, and as the world’s largest cruise company and the first global cruise operator in China, we are more committed than ever to helping China become one of the world’s most popular regions for cruise vacations.”
Further details on plans for Carnival Cruise Line and AIDA Cruises to enter the Chinese market in 2017 will be announced soon by each brand.
“We greatly look forward to introducing Chinese guests to the exceptional vacation experience that has made Carnival the world's most popular cruise line with more than 4.5 million guests a year,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “With cruise demand rapidly increasing in China and our ability to work in partnership with other Carnival Corporation brands to leverage our collective experience and scale, it provides an outstanding opportunity for Carnival Cruise Line to enter the Chinese market.”
Felix Eichhorn, the new president of AIDA Cruises, added: “We look forward to offering Chinese guests our authentic AIDA experience of German style on the seas. By focusing on the interests of our guests in China, there is a significant opportunity to grow cruising demand for our brand, Carnival Corporation and the industry at large.”
In July, Carnival Corporation announced Costa and Princess would continue to expand in the Chinese market in 2016, with each introducing a new ship to the market. This will make Carnival Corporation the first global cruise company to have six ships in China, a 58% capacity increase. The deployment includes three year-round and three seasonal ships, enabling the two brands to potentially offer about four million passenger cruise days in 2016.
This week, Princess also revealed that Majestic Princess, the first year-round cruise ship built specifically for Chinese guests, will be based year-round in Shanghai when she debuts in 2017.
Carnival Corporation is also exploring potential joint ventures in China with China State Shipbuilding Corporation and China Merchants Group designed to accelerate the growth of the overall cruise industry in China. This would include the possibility of launching a world-class Chinese domestic cruise brand, building new ships in China and supporting port and infrastructure development.