In 1992, Century River Cruises was a travel agency based in Chongqing, China, along the Yangtze River. One of China’s popular tourism offerings, cruising the Yangtze is a one-of-a-kind experience, giving cruisers an up-close look at spectacular scenery and both city and rural life in China.
Richard Xie, deputy general manager of Century, says that the boom in American tourism to China in the early aughts was good timing for the company, which became a cruise operator when it debuted its first ship, Century Star, in 2003.
“It was a pretty good coincidence when Viking came to China in 2003,” Xie said. “They chartered Century Star, and supported by Viking sales, we constructed our next few ships, which were also chartered by Viking.”
By 2010, Century had seven ships in China. Additionally, it was cruising rivers in Europe and America, as its exclusive Viking contract had expired. Today, there’s also a subsidiary company, Grand Century Cruises, that offers land and river itineraries around the world, from 13 days in Vietnam to 11 days in Eastern Canada.
We spoke to Xie about Century’s upcoming 30th anniversary, as well as the company’s interest in and dedication to connecting with travel advisors in the U.S.
To build connections with the travel industry and to better sell to the U.S. market, Century opened an office in Pasadena, Calif., in 2019. Tell us about that business move.
We have always worked hard to promote Yangtze cruises, but China has not always been popular with Americans, so we thought it would be good for us to set up a U.S. office, and to organize package tours for travel agents. That was the original intention. Unfortunately, then came the pandemic. And with China not yet open, we looked to Europe. We made more than 20 river cruise European charters for 2024.
China reopened to foreign travelers in March of this year. Now that clients can go, what should advisors know about booking Century itineraries in the country?
In China, the river cruise market is booming, and during the pandemic we developed the brand-new, 16-day Splendid China itinerary, which includes a sailing from Chongqing to Shanghai.
Everybody wants to cruise the Yangtze, and there are three- and four-night cruises, but these programs are confined to a distance of about 400 miles. When you look at the length of the river, there is so much beautiful scenery and attractions, so our longer cruise is ideal.
Highlights are two nights in Shanghai and two nights in Chongqing, the rising international city where our headquarters are located. The other 11 or 12 nights are on the boat. This year, we don’t go to Beijing or the Terracotta Warriors of Xian, but we will in next year’s package. Right now, we’re seeing how Americans like what we have.
Will there be new ships next year?
We are set to launch two new ships on the Yangtze next year; one will be for the domestic Chinese market, while the new 650-passenger Century Voyager will be for international travelers and will sail our longer itinerary. The ship will offer distinct features. For example, we worked with the well-known Three Gorges Museum, which has been inundated with relics, to placed museum elements onto our ship. So, travelers can enjoy and appreciate the artifacts while they cruise. Century Voyager will also be eco-friendly — like all of our ships — with low emissions, electronic propulsion and noise reduction.
Jianhu Peng, Owner of Century River Cruises, Shares the Company’s Strategic Vision
On a recent visit to Century River Cruises’ offices in Pasadena, Calif., Jianhu Peng (also known as “Tiger”), owner of the cruise line, had a few moments to discuss the line’s future plans.
It must be very exciting to have international travelers come back to the Yangtze River after the pandemic. And now you’re offering more to them, right?
Yes. Before, we were just a cruise line working behind tour operators. But now, we are looking to go direct to travel advisors. And we have many unique, long itineraries. But our international strategy is not based on the U.S. only, but also Europe.
We’re planning to have our own ships in Europe. So, the office here will be organizing American consumers to travel to Europe, as well. We’ve done five cruises in Europe so far, and we’re going to have four more before the end of the year. We’ve been running charters with Viva and Amadeus, among others.
Do you feel that U.S. travelers are ready to go back to China?
Our vision is to promote China as a grand destination. We trust that there’s a lot of interest still in a special destination such as China. There are so many beautiful places that American travelers would love to see — and should see. Century will work with travel advisors to help more Americans experience the greatness of China.
— Kenneth Shapiro
How is Century aiming to help advisors sell its products?
Connecting with American advisors is really new for us. Remember, before the pandemic, we were just a river cruise line, and we worked behind major tour operators. That made us feel helpless sometimes; there wasn’t really a way to highlight a special promotion in our name.
Connecting with American advisors is really new for us. Remember, before the pandemic, we were just a river cruise line, and we worked behind major tour operators.
We think China is a tourist destination to see, so if you market and promote it, people will come. And if your quality and service is good, people will love to go. So, we wanted to set up our own tour company — but we’ve never done any fam trips on our own. We did fams with Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, Avalon Waterways, Vantage Deluxe World Travel and Signature Travel Network, but we were just the river cruise supplier. But now it’s Century River Cruises — we are the cruise line, with our own ships and our own itineraries.
So, we invite advisors to come to China. We have a fam trip planned for this month, a 13-day tour that will include Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and more, then a four-night Yangtze River cruise to Chongqing and Chengdu, the home of the Chinese panda. And right now, the Chinese government offers a good policy for a last-minute visa, which allows you to stay in China for up to 30 days.
What else would you like advisors to know about selling Century?
We know there’s a large potential in the U.S. market, with North American booming — that’s why we did charter European river cruises. We work with Viva Cruises, and this year we’ll do four more charters with Amadeus River Cruises. Next year, we’ve set 20 charters in Europe with Amadeus.
An advantage we are making use of is our cash flow from Chongqing; financially, we are strong. That’s why we were able to survive the hardest three years. Now, we’re investing in our marketing and promotions. We want to work with travel advisors, via trade shows, fam trips and our website. We want to be more travel-advisor friendly. There will be multiple fam trips coming up, through 2024.