Luxury Liner on the Go
Superstar Virgo, one of the largest luxury liners in the Star Cruises fleet that measures 76,800 gross tons with 935 guest rooms able to accommodate 1,870 passengers, has received over 700 bookings for its planned maiden cruise via east China’s Xiamen City on May 8.
It is the first luxury liner to take tourists from China’s mainland directly to international waters. Before this, mainland tourists who want to take ocean-going cruises have to go to luxury cruise terminals in Hong Kong or Singapore.
Making its first call at Xiamen on the eastern coast of Fujian province on April 11 with over 1,600 overseas tourists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Canada, Singapore and Australia, Superstar Virgo will altogether make 25 regular calls at Xiamen at 1 p.m every Thursday and return to Hong Kong at 10 p.m on the same day till October.
Wu Mingfa, marketing manager of Star Cruises, said that Xiamen is an ideal port for international luxury liners to tap the huge market potential across China’s mainland, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions as well as Taiwan.
The World Cruise Shipping Industry predicts the number of cruise passengers in Asia will rise 40% from 1.07 million in 2005 to 1.5 million in 2010, which is made possible in part by Asia’s growing affluence and improved flight options to regional port cities.
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