Speaking at the Travel Convention, Dominic Paul said passenger numbers were expected to reach 700,000 next year – up from 450,000 in 2015 and just 40,000 in 2010.
“In China, the pace of change is breathtaking,” he said. “This is an economy that continues to grow – whether it slows to a certain percentage is academic. The fact is that it is still growing very quickly.
“We think that demand is outweighing capacity,” he added. “In the time that it’s taken to discuss building a new runway in the UK, China has built 45 new airports, and they’re building new ports as well.
“In a one-hour train ride from Hong Kong there are 160 million people. In a four-hour train ride, there are 250 million people – that’s the population of the US right there.”
He added that Shanghai had a population 24 million – the same as that of Australia. “There is a lot of wealth to go on holiday – a lot of money is being created; there’s a lot of opportunity for the cruise industry."
"Chinese guests are hungry for new experiences.”
Despite the opportunity, Paul acknowledged China was a “very complicated” market to do business in. “You can’t operate your business from your head office, you have to run it locally,” he said.
“You have to have trust that the people you work with on the ground are the closest ones to the market. We listened to them, and we have changed the entertainment, food and even the way we sell. We’ve gone from a team of 30 people to 200 in two years.”
Paul said the line had also invested in the different ways it deals with travel agents in China: “In 2013, we contracted with 110, and now we’ve got contracts with 750 agents.”
Despite this, however, Paul noted that there had been “some bumps” in the road, including Middle-East respiratory syndrome, nine typhoons in the region which normally averages two, a slump in the stock exchange and the local currency declining.
“But we have a local team that is able to adapt quicker than if they were working [from head office]. Stay flexible,” he added. “There will be shocks, but these businesses have been around for many years.”
