On the morning of Sept 12, a luxury cruise ship CM-Viking carrying over 600 international and domestic passengers docked at the Zhoushan Archipelago International Cruise Port. Later that day, at 10 pm, the ship set sail again for the Wenzhou Zhuangyuanao Archipelago International Cruise Port, embarking on a two-day tour of Zhejiang's islands. This marks the first cruise to dock at both Zhoushan and Wenzhou this year, which have recently been designated as visa-free ports of entry for cruise passengers. This also signifies a new era of development for Zhejiang's cruise tourism industry.

Since the cruise economy began to recover last year, China's cruise tourism market has shown tremendous potential. In the first half of 2024 alone, the number of cruise passengers reached 500,000, with the second quarter seeing a 60 percent increase over the first quarter, highlighting a strong recovery trend.