China Duty Free unit takes to high seas with new cruise venture

Adora Cruises, the newly launched cruise brand under CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Ltd, on Monday joined a partnership with China Duty Free Cruise Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Duty Free Group, to introduce the country's largest duty-free shopping center on board an oceangoing vessel.

CDFG, based in Beijing, is the largest duty-free operator in the world, and CSSC Carnival Cruise is a joint venture company between China State Shipbuilding Corp and Carnival Corp. The first 135,500 gross tonnage Adora cruise ship is scheduled to set sail at the end of 2023.

The new partnership will bring resources from both parties to contribute to the shaping and updating in the field of cruise duty-free shopping and retail operations, said the company.

Chen Ranfeng, managing director of CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Ltd, said: "Shopping is a critical part of the cruise holiday experience, especially for our domestic guests. This new partnership will help realize our shared ambition to create a premium and exciting shopping experience at sea tailor-made for our guests."

CDFCS said "the collaboration is not merely an expansion of their maritime network, but also a recognition of CDFCS' capability in operating duty-free services on cruise ships. The company will continue to expand its cruise retail horizon".

The first Adora cruise ship, now under construction in Shanghai Waigaoqiao shipyard, will feature a trendy state-of-the-art shopping center, covering an area of about 2,000 square meters, the largest one of its kind at sea in China.

The Adora Shopping Center will present all popular categories including world-renowned designer brands, fine watches and jewelry, fashion jewelry, high fashion, beauty and fragrance, and even art collections. It will also create a special shopping zone showcasing unique China-chic brands as well as popular and creative cultural products.

The aspiration of the cruise is to create "A Voyage in Love" during which guests can enjoy an inspiring cruise holiday experience with authentic Chinese and international gourmet food, entertaining production shows and world-class shopping at sea, said the company. Cruise passengers are also able to shop online and offline to create an integrated consumption scenario, said the company.

Duty-free shopping has grown rapidly in the past three years due to outbound travel restrictions. Since the first dutyfree shop opened in 2011 in Hainan province, annual revenue generated from off-shore duty free has grown nearly 50 times, selling more than 100 billion yuan ($14.33 billion) of duty-free products and grossing an annual growth rate of 44.6 percent on average, according to data from the provincial government.

According to the China Travel Shopping White Paper 2022 released this year by Ernst &Young and iClick Interactive, it is forecast that China's travel retail market is going to grow to a value of 150 billion yuan by 2025, driven by the strong desire for high-end travel, increase of younger consumers and rise in rural incomes.

Ten duty-free stores in Hainan grossed annual sales of 60.1 billion yuan in 2021, up 84 percent year-on-year. Shoppers buying duty-free products grew 73 percent in number from the previous year.