The 2023 Qingdao International Cruise Festival opened on Sept 16 on Taidong Pedestrian Street in the city's Shibei district, marking the beginning of a month-long celebration themed around cruises and allowing citizens and visitors to immerse themselves in the charm of cruise culture.

The 2023 Qingdao International Cruise Festival opens on Sept 16 in the city's Shibei district. [Photo/Qingdao News]

Highlighting cruise culture, the festival consists of a series of trendy activities covering sections such as cruise lectures titled "Sailing with the Wind", classic movie presentations titled "Romantic Night on the Island", fine crosstalk performances styled as "Entertaining Night on the Island", concerts themed "Dynamic Night on the Island", and an online shopping festival.

The festival organizing committee has recruited cruise tourism volunteers from communities, schools, companies, and government agencies and offered high-quality public performances, duty-free shopping, cultural and creative souvenirs, cash vouchers, and cruise tickets as free public benefits.

Activities will be held beyond the cruise port area in Shibei and beyond Qingdao, with more promotional events to take place in Yantai and other coastal cities in the province.

On Sept 29, the "Blue Dreams Star" cruise will embark on its maiden voyage from Qingdao, operating on the Qingdao-Jeju-Shanghai international route. This will mark the resumption of cruise tourism in the northern region.

The opening ceremony attracts large audiences. [Photo/Qingdao News]

Qingdao is a world-renowned tourist city and an important port city in Northeast Asia. It has comprehensive advantages in port services, transportation, industrial foundation, and tourism resources, all suitable for the development of cruise tourism.

In 2015, the Qingdao cruise home port was put into operation, with the capacity to accommodate the world's largest cruise ships and an annual clearance capacity of 1.5 million passengers.

In 2016, Qingdao was approved as a pilot area for the development of cruise tourism in China, ushering in a major strategic opportunity.

Next, Qingdao will formulate a high-quality development plan for the cruise economy, collaborate with various cities in the Jiaodong Peninsula, and establish a Northeast Asia cruise hub port and a cruise economy center.