China’s Suzhou Tai Hu International Travels Ltd. (苏州太湖国际旅行社有限责任公司) has acquired a cruise vessel from Germany for its newly established subsidiary, Diamond Cruise International Co., Ltd., which aims to set sail from Shanghai as early as March 2016.
Diamond Cruise was registered in the Bahamas in July 2015. According to its parent company it will start operation with this first vessel, which will be renamed “Brilliant of the Seas” (辉煌号) and undergo extensive refurbishment, transforming it into a cruise vessel suitable to cater for the taste of its targeted Chinese clientele.
Just as one cruise operation is shut down, another is starting. Diamond Cruise will be the first new cruise brand in China following the closure of the HNA operation. The company also intends, in the next five years, to acquire further three to four ships in an effort to “gain supremacy” in the fast-moving Chinese cruise market, it says.
Founded in 1993, today Suzhou Tai Hu International is a large travel conglomerate with extensive interests in cruise business, including cruise ship management and supplies. It has named most major international cruise brands as its partners in this regard. The group has cruise-related operation branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing.
Alan Lam reporting from Hong Kong
