Carnival Corporation's subsidiary company Costa Asia will launch new itineraries linking Sanya China (Hainan Province) to popular travel destinations in the Philippines and Vietnam in January 2020. The cruise ship will depart Sanya on January 4 to Da Nang, Nha Trang, Halong Bay, Manila and Subic Bay.
Sanya is exploring ways to promote cruise ship tourism in the South China Sea. The new cruise lines are expected to further facilitate the development of cruise tourism in the city, according to Chen Tiejun, executive vice mayor of Sanya.
Costa will work with Sanya to explore the cruise market, bring new travel experiences to Chinese consumers and abundant tourism and cultural resources of Southeast Asia, as well as support the development of tourism in southeast Asia, said Ye Peng, senior vice-president of Sales & Commercial department, Greater China and Southeast Asia, Costa Cruises.
Sanya is China's first international cruise port, with a total of 5 deepwater berths already been built. China plans to make Hainan an influential domestic and international travel tourism destination by 2035 by easing restrictions on country's offshore duty-free policy and further developing cross-border cruise shipping.