The Chinese river line Century Cruises is in expansion mode, both on the Yangtze and beyond.
Last year, the company launched the largest ship on the Yangtze, a seven-deck, 650-passenger vessel that raises the bar for luxury in Chinese river cruising.
And deputy general manager Richard Xie said the company plans to launch four more ships by 2023.
Xie also recently opened a North America sales office in Los Angeles, and he said the company is exploring opportunities on other rivers, including the Mississippi.
Launching new ships in the U.S., however, is not easy, as the industry's history has shown. That's in part because of the Jones Act, a maritime law from 1920 that requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried on U.S.-flagged vessels built in the U.S. and crewed by Americans.
But the two companies that have succeeded, American Cruise Lines and the American Queen Steamboat Co., have reported steady growth in recent years. And Charles Robertson, the CEO of American Cruise Lines, which continues to add to its fleet of modern riverboats, has said he expects to see a major expansion.
Viking has for years been looking to expand to the U.S. market, with seemingly little progress. And most other major players have ruled out the U.S., in part because the domestic staffing requirements make it cost prohibitive.
Xie says he is interested in developing domestic cruises that cater to Chinese travelers. He says he is looking into opportunities to build ships or partner with others.
While Viking has had success with ships dedicated specifically to Chinese passengers in Europe, with Chinese speaking crews, the Jones Act again would seem to make such a move much more difficult and costly to pull off in the U.S.
But as Xie points out, the U.S. is one of the top markets for outbound Chinese tourists.
And given estimates that the outbound Chinese tourism market will reach $365 billion by 2025, whoever figures out a way to successfully pull off a Chinese-focused strategy here would seem to have an endless and growing supply of customers to tap.