Shanghai created a special working group on November 23 which is to be heavily involved in furthering the growth of city’s cruise tourism.

As one of the first pilot cities for cruise tourism, Shanghai has completed the construction of its international cruise port, which lays the solid groundwork for the growth of cruise tourism. The working group, officially known as Shanghai Cruise Tourism Market Promotion Working Group, is headed by Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration and supported by other related government units and companies. It is intended to provide guidance to the cruise tourism market development, foster the formation of the industry chain, help build the brand of Shanghai as the international capital of cruise tourism and promote service quality improvement.

Statistics show that of the five port cities of China, namely Shanghai, Tianjin, Xiamen, Sanya and Hong Kong, three packed in over 100,000 cruise tourists in 2010 – Shanghai attracted 341,800, Tianjin 100,000 and Hong Kong 107,840. Worthy of note is that cruise tourists to Shanghai jumped from 100,000 in 2007 to 183,000 in 2009, and in 2010, the numbers nearly doubled over the previous year.
The working group will play an instrumental role in promoting Shanghai in the international cruise market and helping shape the city into one of the world’s most appealing destinations. At the same time, the decision to create the working group will also help novel tourism offerings gain a foothold during the 12th Five-Year Plan period