Research on Differentiated Development Paths and Countermeasures of Cruise Economy in Eastern China’s Coastal Provinces

Abstract

Driven by the global cruise industry recovery momentum and China’s national strategy to expand domestic demand, the eastern coastal provinces, as the core carrier of China’s cruise economy layout, have formed distinct spatial development patterns featuring Shanghai as the national core hub, Shandong, Liaoning, Guangdong and Hainan as regional growth poles, and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian as emerging pilot zones. Based on the latest authoritative public data, official policy documents and verified industrial operation indicators, this paper systematically analyzes the differentiated resource endowments, operational characteristics, policy arrangements and practical challenges of cruise economy development in major eastern coastal provinces. The study finds that the current eastern coastal cruise economic belt presents prominent structural issues including path homogeneity, inefficient inter-provincial resource allocation, unclear functional positioning and insufficient cross-regional collaborative mechanisms, which restrict the multiplier effect of the “port-ship-shore” integrated industrial system from full play. Targeted countermeasures are proposed: constructing a tiered differentiated positioning system, breaking administrative barriers to build a cross-province cruise industrial linkage network, promoting the complementary coordination of manufacturing, operation and consumption segments, and building an open collaborative policy demonstration system. This research aims to provide evidence-based decision support for eastern coastal provinces to avoid homogeneous competition, maximize comparative advantages and accelerate the construction of a world-class global cruise economic belt with Chinese characteristics.