After the outbreak of new crown pneumonia on the "Diamond Princess" early last year, as the epidemic in Hong Kong gradually eased, the government finally approved the cruise company to resume its flights.
Among them, the Genting Group, which uses Hong Kong as one of its development bases, also launched its "Genting Dream" on July 30 this year.
Zhu Fuming, President of Genting Group, said that after the resumption of voyages, every voyage was full, and most of the voyages in September and October were also sold out.
Among them, the proportion of young local tourists and foreigners staying in Hong Kong has increased significantly, with an increase of about 20 to 30%.
He believes that the change in the source of tourists is related to the inability of citizens to travel abroad under the epidemic, which has become a miracle in the tourism industry.
But recalling the early days of the epidemic, Zhu admitted frankly that the "Diamond Princess" incident caused the cruise company to have a big headache.
"The Diamond Princess has received very extensive media exposure. The most difficult thing is to let the public know how safe the cruise ship is. It should be our biggest headache."
Zhu Fuming, President of Genting Group, said that after the resumption of voyages, every voyage was full, and most of the voyages in September and October were also sold out.
(Photo by Zhang Haowei)
At the beginning of last year, the "Diamond Princess" broke out with a large-scale infection and was prohibited from docking. Passengers were forced to quarantine on the ship for many days, waiting for the government to send a special plane to evacuate.
However, there are dangers and opportunities. The closure of the epidemic has prevented citizens from travelling by air and can only travel locally, but it has brought about a turnaround for cruise companies.
Among them, in response to the epidemic situation, Genting Cruises changed from two voyages a week to pick up mainland guests via Guangzhou, and then sail to Japan, the Philippines or Vietnam; instead, it changed to three voyages per week and destinationless high sea cruises.
The departure dates are from Sunday to Wednesday, Wednesday to Friday, and Friday to Sunday to cover different types of passengers.
The price has remained at the previous level. Taking a two-night flight as an example, the cheapest room is 1,200 yuan.
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After the resumption of flights, the class is full and optimistic about the prospects
Zhu Fuming said that since the cruise ship was allowed to resume its voyages, due to lack of tourism products, more Hong Kong people have tried cruise cruises, so they are optimistic about the prospects.
"In the past two months, many customers have looked back twice or three times. So I think the penetration rate of cruise ships in Hong Kong has increased significantly after the epidemic."
In fact, despite the impact of epidemic prevention measures in various places, cruise ships can no longer pick up passengers from other cities and can only serve local residents, and the maximum number of people is limited to half of the capacity.
However, Zhu revealed that as of the end of September, each voyage was full after the resumption, and most of the voyages in September and October were also sold out.
"I have been walking for two months now. Looking back at each voyage, I think it is correct."
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Significant increase in 4-person families, young people aged 25 to 35, and foreigners staying in Hong Kong
Zhu analyzed that since the current voyages are only provided for Hong Kong residents, the types of passenger sources are significantly different from those in the past, characterized by high income levels and declining average age.
Among them, the proportions of 4-person families, young people aged 25 to 35, and foreigners staying in Hong Kong have increased significantly, with an increase of approximately 20 to 30% respectively.
He revealed that from the increase in demand for specialty restaurants and spa services on board, it has been observed that passengers' consumption habits have changed.
Zhu Xu pointed out that the proportion of foreigners has risen most obviously, which has doubled the rate of increase.
He estimated that because they chose to leave Hong Kong to visit their families during the holidays, they could only participate in cruises under the epidemic.
However, he also emphasized that although the proportion of other age groups has increased, the number of retirees has not changed much from the past.
▼Pictures of the first five days after the reorganization of the Diamond Princess became infected ▼
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The Diamond Princess is widely reported: letting the public understand the safety of cruise ships is the most difficult
Although the public’s response has been better than expected after the cruise ship resumed its voyage, Zhu said frankly that the negative image brought about by the "Diamond Princess" last year was the biggest difficulty in recent years.
However, he recalled that at the beginning of the epidemic, the world, including the Japanese government, did not have a deep understanding of the new crown pneumonia and did not know how to deal with the situation, which led to the outbreak of the epidemic on board.
Zhu took the opportunity to clarify again that there is no air crossover in the design of the cruise room. Its fresh air system is much higher than hotels, offices, shopping malls and other places. It can provide 25 cubic meters of fresh air per hour, with a frequency of 6 to 15 times per hour.
Therefore, he believes that explaining the safety of cruise ships to the public is the top priority. "The Diamond Princess has received very extensive media exposure. The most difficult thing is how to let the public understand how cruise ships are safe. This should be our biggest headache."
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Cruise on the high seas｜Passengers arrived 8 hours earlier: the doctor told me not to get the injections, they all hit Hang Seng Bank to send 3.2 million yuan in bonus to the Hong Kong team’s table tennis women’s team. Passing three levels of needle card detection information is indispensable. Most social distancing measures remain unchanged. Cruise high seas cruises are resumed, and "event venues" are introduced. Refund
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