Cruise revival
Yangtze passengers return as safety rules tightened
The gloom that has hung over the Yangtze River cruise industry since an accident in which more than 400 people died has finally been dispersed.
Experts say the revival of tourism on the world’s third-longest river is the result of strengthened safety regulations for cruise operators and tougher environmental controls that were introduced in the wake of accident.
The Yangtze delta is home to nearly 400 million people and generates as much as 40 percent of national GDP. Tourism has long been one of the main drivers of the regional economy, as visitors flocked to view the stunning scenery, such as the Three Gorges, and enjoy cultural highlights.
Bookings plummet
The regional cruise industry was severely damaged in June 2015, when Eastern Star, a cruiser carrying more than 450 people, most of them seniors, capsized on a stretch of the river in Hubei province during a voyage from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, to Chongqing. Only 12 people survived.
“Cruise companies’ revenues declined by nearly 30 percent in the months after the accident,” said Zhu Ruming, deputy director of the Changjiang River Administration of Navigational Affairs, which is overseen by the Ministry of Transport.
“But the fallout was relatively short-lived. The cruise travel market gradually recovered in 2016, while there was a very positive public response in 2017.”
According to the administration, nearly 750,000 people registered for cruises on the middle and lower reaches of the river last year, with more than 600,000 booking highend trips that cost an average of 2,000 yuan ($312) per person. Revenue from ticket sales rose 15 percent year-on-year.
Wu Xuefeng, general manager of the business department at Lyumama, an online travel agency, has followed the sector’s fortunes closely.
“In 2015, cruise travel was extremely popular. But after the accident, reservations for package tours on the Yangtze fell by 30 percent. However, things improved around the end of that year, and we also saw a dramatic increase in bookings last year, with a rise of more than 40 percent from 2016.”
The first six months of this year saw a year-on-year rise of 30 percent in online reservations for cruises along the middle and lower reaches of the river, according to Lyumama.
The surge was confirmed by the China Youth Travel Service, but it said bookings rose by 12 percent in the first six months, compared with the same period last year.
Safety measures
Zhu said passengers need to know that the cruises are safe. “People are still passionate about cruise travel on the river, but the industry will require higher safety standards from both operators and administrators, such as my organization, or even a revamp of the entire industry,” he said.
The Yangtze cruise industry began in the 1980s, boosted by the river’s slow current, which makes for easy navigation, and the magnificent landscape that flanks the waterway. However, the activity was too expensive for most people, so the passengers were mainly officials and guests from places such as the United States.
You Xunliang, a native of Yichang, a riverside city in Hubei, has worked in the cruise business for more than 30 years.
He is employed by Yangtze River Overseas International Travel (Wuhan) Co as captain of a liner that undertakes four-day cruises between Yichang and Chongqing, a megacity in Southwest China.
“I was really proud to be involved in cruises in the 1980s. Even though it was unusual to see foreigners in China back then, almost all of our passengers were from Europe and the United States!” he said, with a laugh.
“In the early days, river cruisers were only about 80 meters long and 17 meters wide, but now ships can be as long as 150 meters or even more,” the 55-year-old said. “Twenty years ago, we could carry no more than 70 passengers, but my current ship can accommodate more than 500.”
He estimated that his vessel carries about 14,000 passengers from home and abroad per year.
“But tourism on the Yangtze is often uncertain,” he said. “Every few years something unexpected affects the industry — we had the SARS outbreak in 2003, a deadly earthquake in 2008, and the Eastern Star accident in 2015.”
Despite those incidents, visitors have given a positive response to the recent developments in river-based tourism, he added.
That positive attitude was reflected by Nina Jobe, who has been taking Yangtze cruises with her husband since 2001. “There’s no problem — the (Eastern Star) accident doesn’t frighten anyone,” said the 76-year-old travel coordinator from the US.
Her husband, Larry, a 77-year-old retired airline pilot, said they took a cruise because they had visited China many times — mostly cities such as Beijing and Shanghai — and were looking for a new experience.
“We wanted to see more of the country, so we chose the river,” he said. “In 2001, before the (Three Gorges) dam was built, the journey from Wuhan (the capital of Hubei), to Chongqing took six days. It was excellent! What we saw was so different from our expectations.”
The couple will return in March, and they are planning a new schedule for their visit.
Policy change
Currently, 51 cruisers ply the waters between Chongqing and Yichang, with prices ranging from 1,500 yuan to 2,800 yuan per passenger, depending on the route and type of vessel.
A safety measure proposed in January 2014, known as “three old for one new” — under which one new cruiser can be built for every three scrapped — has been more rigorously applied since the Eastern Star accident.
“Nearly 50 old ships were dismantled in 2016, which means about 15 new cruisers are under construction,” said Gu Qiang, deputy general manager of Changjiang Cruise Overseas Travel Co (Wuhan).
“The policy has fixed disorderly competition in the cruise travel market. Substandard or old vessels posed a great threat to safety and therefore the sector’s development. The new cruisers will carry three times the number of passengers, which will balance capacity and demand while hugely improving the company’s performance.”
Spurring reorganization
Zhu from the navigational affairs administration, was equally positive about the development. “It’s like natural selection. Most of the ships being dismantled were built in the 1990s, and originally used to carry cargo,” he said. “The policy will help to reshape the river’s travel market and spur business reorganization.”
Phasing out the old-style ships accords with measures to protect the river’s ecosystem, and will also further the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, which covers 11 provinces and municipalities, including Hubei, Chongqing and Shanghai.
In recent years, the river has been exposed to industrial pollution, agricultural runoff and excessive exploitation of resources.
Gu said his company has two new cruisers under construction. They are being built to comply with the highest environmental standards, and state-of-the-art technology will help to reduce pollution. They should be operational by 2020.
“They will be equipped with electric motors to reduce noise and vibration. Zero-discharge technologies will be applied to wastewater and garbage disposal, and waste that does not decompose will be solidified and processed after docking,” he said, adding that each vessel cost 1.5 times more than the company’s other ships.
The industry is also looking to broaden its appeal to younger people.
At present, seniors account for nearly 90 percent of passengers on river cruises, according to Lyumama, the online travel agency.
Xu Xiaolei, chief brand officer of China Youth Travel Service, said: “River cruises are much more attractive to seniors than to younger people. The entire journey is spent on the ship, so people don’t need to change vehicles during the trip, which reduces the physical and mental burdens on elderly travelers.”
He added that the number of teenage visitors attending summer camps held on cruise liners rose last year, and is expected to continue to grow.
New approach
According to Gu, seniors will continue to account for the largest proportion of passengers in the near future, but his company is planning more travel products to appeal to both seniors and younger people.
“We offer healthcare services and even lectures on traditional Chinese medicine on our cruises, which are popular with seniors. Meanwhile, the new ‘Children’s Corner’ offers handicraft lessons, including paper cutting and pottery,” he said.
He added that while river cruisers will never be as large as ocean-going vessels, they will be equipped with facilities on a par with larger ships and will highlight Chinese interests, such as mahjong.
Zhu, from the navigational affairs administration, said: “The Yangtze is like a necklace and the scenic spots along its banks are its pearls. A cruise is a movable home that brings visitors to experience all the marvelous scenery.
“The development of river travel will help to improve holistic tourism, and the stronger regulations will provide passengers with safer, environmentally friendly tours.”