Premium Waterway Tourism Route Cases Released, Experience Upgraded

Key points

• The Ministry of Transport released 2025 typical cases of premium domestic waterway tourism passenger routes, connecting coastal attractions and historical sites and innovating a 'cruise plus' model.
• During summer, several routes saw peak traffic: the Lijiang essence section received 353,400 visitors, averaging about 6,000 daily, with about 4,000 sailings.
• The Luoyang Xiaolangdi to Jiyuan Yellow River Three Gorges route was basically fully booked on weekends and holidays; 'Shanghai Star' multicultural theme flights averaged a 98.6% load factor.
• Family customers focus on study courses, intangible heritage experiences, and child-friendly facilities; young people value social attributes and emotional value; middle-aged and elderly tourists prefer slow, detailed tours.
• Industry players believe waterway tourism is shifting from 'whether available' to 'whether good,' needing to meet four demand types: deep experience, cultural spirit, nighttime consumption and social sharing, and segmented customer groups.
• Water-shore linkage is key: piers should become consumption starting points, shore content should feed back to the water, and transfers should be seamless.
• Some routes still face large peak-off-peak differences, strong reliance on government subsidies, and product homogenization, requiring a shift to a '1+N' diversified revenue structure.