AIDA Cruises will send a ship to China in 2017, as previously announced, today confirming it would be the AIDAbella, which will sail year-round from Shanghai.

“AIDA would not be so successful today if we had not constantly ventured into new territory in the 20 years since we commissioned our first new ship. Now we are taking another important step and, with AIDAbella, are exporting our successful concept – Made in Germany – to China, the world’s strongest growing market for cruises. With our lifestyle-oriented and innovative product we will be providing further powerful momentum to the emerging Chinese vacation market, and captivating completely new guest groups,” said AIDA President Felix Eichhorn.

The essence of our product, for which AIDA stands, will however be preserved. We have taken a very close look at what connects the Asian guest with Germany. What premium products does he prefer? What cultural differences, including those relating to consumption habits, do we need to bear in mind? Since we are part of the Costa Group, our colleagues at Costa Asia will be supporting us with their know-how, particularly in the area of Sales and HR,” Eichhorn continued.

The company will be announcing further details at a later date.