The 2020 Northeast Asia Cruise Industry International Cooperation Conference kicked off in the coastal city of Qingdao in East China's Shandong province on Aug 3, and more than 100 distinguished guests from the cruise industry attended the event.

The event was aimed at promoting the fast recovery of the cruise industry, which has been hit hard by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Shandong Port Group, or SPG, is dedicated to making the port a world-class cruise tourism port. According to official statistics, the cruise home port area at SPG's Qingdao Port handled 176,000 passengers and operated 93 cruise trips, representing a year-over-year growth of 31 percent and 57 percent, respectively.

The COVID-19 pandemic has primarily had a detrimental effect on the cruise tourism industry globally, which has slowed down China's cruise tourism's quick growth. When faced with new obstacles, SPG actively pursued new business opportunities during the crisis, continued to support the growth of entry duty-free shops in its ports, and actively promoted new business models like cruise tourism towns and cruise-themed hotels. As a result, the group was able to gradually create a new development pattern for the cruise tourism industry, which aided in the industry's rapid recovery.

An international cruise ship docks at its home port in Qingdao. [Photo/WeChat account: Shandong-Port]