China Consolidates Cruise Business as it Looks to Expand Domestic Market

The China Tourism Group reports that it will be leading an effort to boost the cruise ship market that includes the consolidation of the management of the various brands that have been launched in China. It is one of several initiatives by the Chinese government to consolidate industries where it sees strong potential but believes have lagged in performance.

A new company called Huaxia was launched as a subsidiary of China Tourism and China COSCO Shipping Group, and it will be responsible initially for the management of five of China’s cruise ships. On November 21, they conducted a signing ceremony for the brands, which also launched a new company called Star Cruises, a division of Huaxia for the management of the cruise ships. China Tourism owns 35 percent of the new company, with COSCO and China Merchants each having a nearly 18 percent stake.

The consolidated operation includes four state-owned operations, including the cruise operations of Cosco, China Merchants Group, and China State Shipbuilding Corporation. The individual brands, which include Adora Cruises, which operates China’s first large, domestically built cruise ships, will continue their operations under the management of the new company. Adora is owned by China State Shipbuilding after having been started as a joint venture with Carnival Corporation. Carnival later reduced its position to a minority investor in the brand, which launched in 2023 and introduced its first newbuild in January 2024.

The combined management will include the Adora Magic City as well as Adora Mediterranea, Piano Land, Nanhai Dream, and the still under construction Adora Flora City. The combined operation will have approximately 16,000 berths, which China says will make it the largest cruise operator by capacity in Asia.

The decision to combine the operations is reported to be an efficiency drive and will permit the company to consolidate overhead costs in the operation of the cruise ships. The private media outlet Caxin also reports that the domestic cruise industry in China continues to struggle with low ticket prices and an overall sluggish recovery post-pandemic. 

China was the last major cruise market to resume operations after the pandemic. It did not permit the domestic cruise operations to resume until 2023 and further delayed the return of foreign-flag cruise ships operated by international brands to Chinese ports. Even before the pandemic, major international cruise lines had reduced operations or withdrawn cruise ships from China, explaining that the market was underdeveloped and lacked the traditional marketing opportunities. Cruises are mostly sold in groups or via third-party organizations.

Chinese officials, however, highlight the perceived opportunities. They note that strong multiples from the money spent on cruises, which they say is leveraged into additional spending for supplies and supporting services. Cruising, it says, can stimulate 10 to 14 times in economic activity for the initial spend on the ticket.

China Tourism Group looks to drive growth in the cruise market as it prepares for the delivery of China’s second, large domestically-built cruise ship. Adora Flora City was floated earlier this year and is due for delivery in late 2026. 

In addition to the state-owned cruise companies, China has developed an initial private sector cruise operation. One of the brands recently acquired a former cruise ship built by Costa Cruises. The ship recently transited the Suez Canal on its delivery run to China. 

Tourism officials noted that the passenger count of cruise ships calling at Chinese ports was up 28 percent in the first nine months of 2025, topping 2 million passengers.