Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    THE tickets for Spring Festival holiday travel on board the SuperStar Virgo cruise to Vietnamese cities have been sold out.

    Star Cruises was the first international cruise line to make Shenzhen its homeport, and since the opening of cruise port service in November last year, cruise tourism has become popular in the city, according to Jiuzhou International Travel Service, the wholesale contractor for SuperStar Virgo tickets.

    “In the first three weeks, nearly 70 percent of the six-day, five-night tickets to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City were sold. After that the tickets for New Year’s Day and Christmas holidays also sold well,” a manager, surnamed Zhu, with the travel agency said at an interview Friday during the launch ceremony of Shenzhen’s First Cruise Ship Carnival that has attracted 500 local residents to visit the Virgo cruise ship.

    The carnival that includes cruise ship tourism culture, story sharing and painting contest will last until Jan. 20.

    According to Zhu, tickets for a five-day itinerary departing Jan. 25 to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as a six-day itinerary departing Jan. 30 to Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City were sold out thanks to fares as low as 2,849 yuan (US$410) and 3,399 yuan, and a package of preferential policies concerning on-board consumption.

    The Prince Bay Cruise Terminal is the only cruise port in China capable of accommodating 220,000-ton cruise liners. Starting Jan. 29, a six-star Silver Shadow cruise from Silversea Cruises, a famous high-end Italian cruise company, will set sail from the port.

    Personalized cruise tours to Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and other countries and regions will also be available on Silver Shadow cruises starting in February.

    China is expected to become the fastest-growing country in the world in terms of cruise trips, and international cruise lines are ramping up their operations in response to surging demand from China’s emerging middle class.

    In 2015, more than 1.2 million Chinese travelers went on cruises and the number is expected to rise to 4.5 million in five years, almost a fourfold increase. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Costa Cruises Group will also launch cruise voyages from Shenzhen in June this year.