游轮公司将船调离中国

The number of Chinese cruise passengers is set to fall for the first time next year as lines redeploy ships from what had been the industry’s most promising market, deterred by falling prices and restrictions on travel to South Korea.

2018年中国游轮乘客将首次下降。受价格下滑和赴韩游受限的打击，游轮公司纷纷将船只调离曾经是该行业最有前途市场的中国。

About 2.4m Chinese will take cruises in 2018, down from 2.8m this year, according to Cruise Industry News, an industry journal, as almost all operators in the Chinese market reduce capacity.

根据行业期刊《Cruise Industry News》的数据，2018年将有240万中国乘客乘坐游轮，较2017年的280万有所下降，中国市场上几乎所有游轮运营商都将削减运力。

Cruise passenger numbers grew 70 per cent annually in China in the four years through 2016, according to Goldman Sachs. This year the country accounted for 5-10 per cent of all ship deployment for Royal Caribbean and Carnival, two US cruise operators that together control about 70 per cent of the global market.

据高盛(Goldman Sachs)的数据，在截至2016年的4年中，中国的游轮乘客每年增长70%。今年，中国占皇家加勒比国际游轮(Royal Caribbean)和嘉年华公司(Carnival)所有船只的5%到10%。这两家美国游轮运营商共计控制着全球市场的70%。

Both companies are cutting the number of ships deployed to China next year. For instance, Royal Caribbean’s 3,800-capacity Mariner of the Seas will return to the US. “International cruise lines are going to trim down their capacity,” said Zinan Liu, China president for Royal Caribbean, adding that “next year the passenger numbers could be less”.

这两家公司均在削减2018年调派到中国的船只。比如，皇家加勒比可搭乘3800人的“海洋水手号”(Mariner of the Seas)将返回美国。“国际游轮公司将削减它们的运力，”皇家加勒比中国区总裁刘淄楠说，他补充称“2018年乘客数量可能减少”。

Carnival’s Princess Cruises had two ships in China this year but will relocate one to Europe and another to Australia next year. “We are letting the market find equilibrium,” said Anthony Kaufmann, vice-president for international operations.

2017年嘉年华的公主邮轮(Princess Cruises)品牌下有两艘游轮在中国，但2018年其中一艘将调派欧洲，另一艘将调派澳大利亚。“我们正在让市场找到平衡，”嘉年华国际运营副总裁安东尼•考夫曼(Anthony Kaufmann)说。

Carnival’s decision to cut cruise capacity “arguably confirms that China has not lived up to expectations”, Morgan Stanley said. The bank added that charter rates paid by travel agencies for ship places were down as much as 20 per cent in 2017 from the previous year.

摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)表示，嘉年华决定削减游轮运力，“可以说证实了中国未能达到预期”。该行补充称，2017年旅行社为游轮铺位支付的费用比上年下降了20%。

China bars cruise lines from selling directly to passengers, leaving the lines at the mercy of travel agents who can discount heavily to fill ships.

中国禁止游轮公司直接向乘客销售，使这些公司受到能够讨价还价、拿到大幅折扣的旅行社的摆布。

The industry has been dealt a blow by Beijing’s bans in March and again in December on group tours to South Korea because of its objection to Seoul’s deployment of the US-built Thaad missile defence system.

由于反对首尔方面部署美国建造的“末段高空区域防御系统”(THAAD，中文简称“萨德”)，2017年3月北京方面出台赴韩游禁令，12月又再度叫停韩国跟团游，这对邮轮业是一个打击。

But while the tension between Beijing and Seoul has hit local tourism, there are fundamental problems. Chinese passengers are more elderly than their global counterparts and tend to spend less on food and drink, say cruise line staff.

然而，虽然中韩之间的紧张关系打击了地区旅游业，但有一些问题是根本的。游轮工作人员称，比起国外游客，中国游客的年龄偏长，在食品和饮料上的花销较少。

Choppy seas and cold weather around most of China in winter mean demand is highly seasonal, while port infrastructure has lagged behind, making for long and uncomfortable waits for boarding.

中国大部分地区在冬季海浪汹涌、气候寒冷，所以中国游客对邮轮游的需求具有显著的季节性，而港口基础设施较为落后，导致登船流程过长且不舒适。

But cruise operators see long-term potential because of the low penetration of cruises in China, where just 0.2 per cent of the population have cruised compared with 3.5 per cent in the US.

但邮轮运营商们看到了中国邮轮游的长期潜力，原因是邮轮游在中国的普及率还很低，只有0.2%的中国人尝试过邮轮出行，而美国的这一比例达到3.5%。

Cruise companies also are trying to enhance their appeal to higher-spending millennials. Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, which sails from Shanghai, features a skydiving simulator and an observation pod attached to a giant mechanical arm.

邮轮公司也在试图提升其对千禧一代高消费人群的吸引力。皇家加勒比的“海洋量子号”(Quantum of the Seas)从上海起航，该船有一个跳伞模拟器和一个连接在巨大机械臂上的观景舱。