Welcoming Adora Cruises' one-millionth passenger aboard reflects the robust operating capacity of China's cruise industry and highlights the vast potential of the cruise tourism market in the world's second-largest economy, said experts and market insiders.

"This benchmark achievement has overturned the long-standing dominance of multinational brands in the cruise market and demonstrates the level that Chinese cruise companies can achieve through independent operations," said Jia Ying, assistant vice-president of marketing and e-commerce at Adora Cruises, during a ceremony celebrating the milestone moment on Sunday aboard Adora Magic City, the nation's first domestically built cruise ship.

"In 2025, Adora Cruises served over 500,000 guests from more than 20 countries and regions across the world, further consolidating its leading position in the Chinese cruise market by taking up 40 percent market share," Jia added.

Adora Cruises, the Chinese cruise brand operating Adora Magic City and Adora Mediterranea, has to date successfully completed more than 350 voyages, including 172 voyages conducted in 2025.

"In the past year, trips made by our two cruise vessels connected 30 popular destinations and covered nearly 200,000 nautical miles, equivalent to circling the globe nine times," Jia said.

Li Lin, Adora Cruises' one-millionth guest, who was traveling with her family of five, said, "I have always wanted to take a trip on a China-built cruise ship. As we are planning to celebrate my father-in-law's 70th birthday, I think choosing a cruise ship with menus tailored to Chinese tastes is an ideal choice."

"The surprise ceremony has made our trip truly special, and I think it will be unforgettable for a lifetime," said Li, adding that she was looking forward to exploring the cruise ship's Chinese features during the four-night trip to Jeju and Busan in South Korea.

Jia attributed Adora Cruises' success to the creative integration of cruises with Chinese culture, and the "cruise plus culture" business model can leverage domestic strengths and integrate cultural elements such as Dunhuang and Nezha, with Chinese cuisine accounting for roughly 70 percent of onboard dining.

"In 2026, we plan to continue operating under a multi-homeport strategy, enabling nationwide coverage from south to north. Going forward, we will also explore deploying cruise ships to additional domestic and international ports, striving to position cruise development as a landmark project under the Belt and Road Initiative,"Jia said.

After the hull structure was completed, 91 percent of the workload on China's second domestically-made cruise ship — Adora Flora City — has now been accomplished and the ship is scheduled for delivery by the end of 2026.

In 2025, a total of 544 vessel trips of cruises entered or departed Shanghai, up 17.5 percent from 2024, averaging about 1.5 vessel trips per day and setting a record high, according to statistics from Shanghai Customs.

Eyeing the affluent market opportunities, international cruise companies are making China, and Shanghai in particular, a focus of their business.

Switzerland-headquartered MSC Cruises held a ceremony on Jan 27 in Shanghai to welcome a humanoid robot and a smart robotic dog aboard, a first in the company's cruise ship operations. The two robots will serve as permanent crew members of the company's flagship MSC Bellissima during its home port operation in Shanghai starting on Jan 31.

Viking Cruises China, which is going to celebrate its tenth anniversary in August, announced that it had served nearly 100,000 passenger trips of Chinese guests as of Jan 23, and made China an important source market globally for Viking Cruises.

"With the implementation of the guidance on promoting cruise economy on March 1, Shanghai will officially enter into a new phase in its development as a global cruise economy hub," Wang Hong, president of the China Europe International Business School, was quoted as saying by Chinese financial news outlet Yicai.

Shanghai received over 3,500 vessel trips of cruises and more than 18 million passenger trips between 2006 and 2025, accounting for more than 60 percent of the national total. This leapfrog growth underscores the East China metropolis' status as Asia's largest and the world's fourth-largest cruise homeport, according to the Yicai report.