Carnival Cruises To Expand To China
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Carnival Cruise Lines is expanding to China.
The Florida-based company says it formed a joint venture in China meant to launch a multi-ship domestic cruise brand in their market, expected to become the largest cruise market in the world.
Carnival Corporation and its partners formalized the joint venture on Wednesday at a signing ceremony attended by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese President Xi Jinping in London.
"This cruising joint venture is a significant step forward for the cruise industry in China.....to grow awareness, interest and demand for cruise vacations amongst domestic Chinese travelers," said Alan Buckelew, global chief operations officer for Carnival Corporation & plc. "Cruising is a relatively new vacation experience in China, and we believe this collaborative approach with our partners is critical to not only developing the country's domestic cruise business, but also supporting China's goal to become one of the world's leading cruise markets in coming years."
The fleet details are set to be announced at a later date.
This is not the first to move towards China by the company.
In July, they announced its existing brands, Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises, already sailing in China, will expand in 2016 with each brand adding a ship to its fleet in China.