中國旅遊市場成爲國際遊輪巨頭的新戰場
Sailing the seven seas to China is looking like a sound strategy for Carnival and Royal Caribbean .
對嘉年華（Carnival）和皇家加勒比（Royal Caribbean）遊輪公司而言，跨越七大洋來到中國看來是明智的決策。Both industry leaders are riding a wave of growth in China stemming from surging interest in cruising as a middle-class family vacation option: on Tuesday, Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator, raised its global revenue forecast for the year in part because of another quarter of double-digit revenue growth in China, a trend it expects will continue for “the next few years.”
中產家庭對遊輪這種度假方式的興趣陡然上升，從而推動了中國市場的增長,兩家行業龍頭正在搭乘這班順風車。週二，全球最大遊輪運營商嘉年華遊輪公司上調了今年的全球收入預期，因其中國市場的季度營收再次實現兩位數增長，而且該公司預計“未來幾年”這股勢頭將延續。
Carnival started operating in China relatively recently, in 2006, with its Costa brand, and finally turned a profit last year, with things looking even better so far in 2014. And the Miami-based Carnival is going all in: in May, Carnival said it would deploy its Costa Serena, which has long cruised the Mediterranean, to China year-round beginning next year. It is also relocating its chief operating officer to Shanghai to oversee the business there and be ready for the boom.
嘉年華遊輪總部設在邁阿密，公司的歌詩達（Costa）品牌於2006年進入中國市場，在華經營時間較短，去年扭虧爲盈後，今年的發展形勢更上一層樓。嘉年華正在全力開拓中國市場：5月份該公司表示，長期以來一直在地中海運營的歌詩達賽琳娜號（Costa Serena）將從明年開始常駐中國。嘉年華還把首席運營官辦公室搬到上海，以便管理中國業務，爲迎接市場井噴做好準備。
Meanwhile its smaller rival, Royal Caribbean, seen as the better positioned of the two for China by analysts,is set to redeploy its newest ship, the 4,200-passenger Quantum of the Seas, to Shanghai year-round starting in next spring after only six months cruising New York-Caribbean trips. (The Quantum is scheduled to debut in November.)
與此同時，分析師更爲看好的規模稍小的皇家加勒比正準備把其最新的遊輪遷到上海，這艘可容納4200名乘客的海洋量子號（Quantum of the Seas）將在紐約和加勒比海之間航行6個月（定於11月份首航），此後從明年春天開始常駐上海運營。The interest in China comes as European demand for cruising is pressured by a chronically weak economy and lingering memories of the 2012 Costa Concordia (a Carnival-operated ship) disaster, which killed 32 passengers when the ship ran aground off the Italian coasts, and as the U.S. market continues to mature. Cruise companies have had to lower prices to entice customers in such those markets.
與對中國市場的興趣相伴的，是歐洲遊輪市場的需求因經濟長期低迷受到了抑制，而且人們對2012年的歌詩達協和號（Costa Concordia）遊輪事故仍心有餘悸（當時，嘉年華旗下的這艘遊輪在意大利海岸觸礁，造成32名乘客喪生）。與此同時，美國市場趨於成熟。遊輪公司在歐美市場不得不通過降價來吸引消費者。And there is no denying the enormous potential of Chinese tourism: some 100 million Chinese are set to travel abroad this year. In 2012, Chinese consumers spent more than $100 billion on travel abroad, with that growing 28% in the first 9 months of 2013 (full year data are not available yet), according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
中國在旅遊方面的巨大潛力毋庸置疑：今年中國出境遊人數將達到約1億人。聯合國世界旅遊組織（United Nations World Tourism Organization）提供的數據顯示，2012年，中國遊客在境外的消費超過1000億美元，2013年前9個月又增長了28%（尚無全年數據）。“For a market of that magnitude, there is still extremely little awareness of cruising and what the cruising experience is,” Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean’s operating chief, told Fortune in a recent interview. “While it (China) may not register too much on the Richter scale yet, the plans we plans we’ve made for next year—including bringing Quantum of the Seas to Shanghai—we weren’t thinking in those terms in 2012.”
皇家加勒比首席運營官亞當o戈德斯坦最近接受《財富》雜誌採訪時表示：“中國市場規模龐大，但乘坐遊輪的意識仍然極低，對遊輪旅遊的體驗知之甚少。儘管中國目前在遊輪領域的發展程度可能不高，但是我們已經制定了來年計劃，包括把海洋量子號部署到上海,而在2012年的時候我們還沒有這樣的打算。”To further build up its business, Royal Caribbean recently struck a deal with Chinese online travel company Ctrip, which is the biggest seller of its cruises there: under terms of that deal, Royal Caribbean sold one its older ships, the Celebrity Century, to Ctrip and will manage the renovated vessel.
爲進一步擴大業務，皇家加勒比最近和中國在線旅行服務商攜程網（Ctrip）達成了協議，攜程網是皇家加勒比在中國的最大銷售商。按照協議條款，攜程網收購了皇家加勒比的精緻世紀號（Celebrity Century），並將運營這條翻新船。Royal Caribbean and Carnival have both praised the Chinese government for being proactive about building out the infrastructure so that their large ships can dock there.
中國政府正在積極修建基礎設施以方便大型遊輪停泊，皇家加勒比和嘉年華雙雙對此表示讚賞。嘉年華首席執行官阿諾德o唐納德表示：“我們預計，有朝一日中國將成爲全球最大的遊輪市場。”
