MSC Cruises to homeport in Shanghai

China’s leading tourism guru has jumped aboard MSC Cruises, announcing it will sail into the sunset with a new partnership.

Caissa Touristic Group and MSC signed a strategic partnership that will make Shanghai the homeport of MSC Lirica as of May 2016, as a way of better serving the Chinese home market.

The strategic cooperation agreement between the two companies will be the longest-running and financially most significant between a cruise line and a tour operator in the history of cruising in China.

In a statement, Caissa Touristic’s President Chen Xiaobing emphasised the popularity of MSC Cruises’ European and South American routes with travellers from around the world.

“MSC Cruises’ distinctive European flavour resonates well with Caissa Touristic’s brand spirit, as it also originates from Europe,” he said.

“This partnership standouts from other traditional agreements between China-based tour agencies and cruise lines by the emphasis that will be placed on the training of the entire on-board staff to ensure that guests receive MSC Cruises’ best-in-class experience and service.”

“[This includes] hardware and software like facilities renovation, service design and operation, on-board commodities and more, to fit the customs and tastes of the Chinese guests that it is designed to serve.”

“We are convinced that the newly-renovated MSC Lirica will bring exciting new holiday-making choices to Chinese guests and are looking forward to welcoming numerous would-be cruisers aboard, at a time when the cruise market in the country for this particular type of product is thriving.”

MSC Cruises’ CEO Gianni Onorato added that it was a logical step to enhance its Chinese offering.

“MSC Cruises has been present in China since 2010, successfully bringing Chinese guests to cruise on its ultra-modern fleet to its many global destinations and, especially, to Europe and the Mediterranean, where our distinctive product made us the number one cruise line across the entire Continent,” Onorato said.

“We are now delighted and excited that through this partnership we are taking our presence in China to the next level. Thus, with CAISSA Touristic we will partner to bring our unique MSC Cruises’ experience directly to Chinese consumers.”

“The soon-to-be completely renovated MSC Lirica, as part of MSC Cruises’ ground-breaking Renaissance programme, will feature many distinctive traits – including some industry firsts in service – especially designed for the cruising enjoyment of Chinese consumers. This will make it a much sought-after choice for cruises in the region.”

MSC Lirica is scheduled to reach her new homeport of Shanghai on 1 May 2016, after a 60-day grand voyage from Rio de Janeiro via Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa and Dubai.

While maintaining its Mediterranean atmosphere and service, the 65,000GRT, 2600-passenger MSC Lirica will enjoy an industry-high percentage of native Mandarin speaking guest-facing crew and provide guests with all services in Mandarin. It will also offer popular as well as high-end Chinese cuisine as well as more traditional and popular entertainments.

More in-depth details about how MSC Lirica’s product and services are uniquely tailored to serve the needs of Chinese consumers – including several industry firsts – will be announced at a press conference to be convened in Beijing in the coming weeks.

Advertise with us

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

caissa touristic group china msc cruises shanghai