SHANGHAI: More than 40 international cruise liners are expected to visit Shanghai this year, carrying a record number of tourists into the city and providing a great boost to the local cruise ship industry.

Last year, 32 international passenger liners carrying about 90,000 passengers and crewmembers visited Shanghai, representing an increase of 20 percent over 2005.

According to the Shanghai Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection Station (SEEFIS), more than 30 foreign passenger liner companies have confirmed cruises to Shanghai this year. The station estimates that at least 10 more international cruises are likely to visit the city during their voyages next year.

Liang Linguang, an official from the SEEFIS, told China Daily that the cruise ships that are set to visit Shanghai this year will carry at least 100,000 passengers and crew members.

The 1,000-passenger Albatros will be the first luxury passenger liner to drop anchor in Shanghai this year. It is scheduled to arrive on January 31. Most of the international cruise ships that visited Shanghai last year are expected to come again, said Liang.

Frequent visits by international cruise liners provide a major boost to the tourism sector, benefiting hotels, restaurants and shopping.

Shanghai, which has long been one of the world's most famous tourist destinations, has experienced rapid growth in the numbers of both luxury liners and passengers visiting the city.

In the hope of becoming an international shipping centre, Shanghai will start operating a 130,000-square-metre cruise terminal to accommodate more visiting passenger liners this year. The Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, which will be able to berth three cruise ships of 70,000 to 80,000 tons at the same time, is nearly completed. It will have an annual throughput capacity of 1 million people.

The new terminal has been operating on a trial basis since July, when a 1,000-passenger cruise liner started operating regular round-trip voyages from Shanghai to South Korea and Japan. It offered the trips through October. The ship, the Costa Allegra, was the first liner to take groups of local passengers on trips abroad, using the terminal as its home port.

The Costa Allegra will continue its regular voyages this year. The service was popular last year.

Officials from the cruise line's operator, the Italy-based liner company Costa, expect China's cruise industry to continue to grow.

"More and more Chinese people are interested in outbound cruises. The business has potential to grow and will become a very lucrative industry in China in the near future," said a senior manager at Costa's Shanghai office who requested to remain anonymous.

According to the SEEFIS, 10,870 Chinese people travelled abroad by cruise liners last year, mostly aboard the Allegra. Before that, few people had taken cruises.

Analysts said the trend would become more apparent in the next few years as the country's economy continues to grow and people find themselves with more disposable income.

Qian Yongchang, president of the China Transportation Association, estimated that outbound cruise travel would surge between 2008 and 2015, at which point China's "cruise economy" would be fully mature.

(China Daily 01/10/2007 page4)