CAISSA Touristic Group, China's leading outbound tourism service provider, and Geneva, Switzerland-based MSC Cruises, the world's largest privately-owned cruise line and market leader in Europe, South America and South Africa, announced recently that they have entered into a strategic partnership. As part of the agreement, from May 2016, MSC Lirica will homeport in Shanghai to serve the Chinese home market.

The strategic cooperation agreement between the two companies will be the longest-running and most financially significant between a cruise line and a tour operator in the history of cruising in China.

In a statement, CAISSA Touristic's President Chen Xiaobing emphasized the popularity of MSC Cruises' European and South American routes with travelers from around the world and that it had recently been named number one cruise line in Europe. Chen added: "MSC Cruises' distinctive European flavor resonates well with Caissa Touristic's brand spirit, as it also originates from Europe. This partnership stands out from other traditional agreements between China-based tour agencies and cruise lines by the emphasis that will be placed on the training of the entire on-board staff to ensure that guests receive MSC Cruises' best-in-class experience and service as well as the degree of the adaptation of the ship's hardware and software (like facilities renovation, service design and operation, on-board commodities and more) to fit the customs and tastes of the Chinese guests that it is designed to serve."

"We are convinced that the newly-renovated MSC Lirica will bring exciting new holiday-making choices to Chinese guests and are looking forward to welcoming numerous would-be cruisers aboard, at a time when the cruise market in the country for this particular type of product is thriving," concluded Chen.

Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises' Chief Executive Officer, commented: "MSC Cruises has been present in China since 2010, successfully bringing Chinese guests to cruise on its ultra-modern fleet to its many global destinations and, especially, to Europe and the Mediterranean, where our distinctive product made us the number one cruise line across the entire Continent. We are now delighted and excited that through this partnership we are taking our presence in China to the next level. Thus, with CAISSA Touristic we will partner to bring our unique MSC Cruises' experience directly to Chinese consumers."

Onorato continued: "The soon-to-be completely renovated MSC Lirica, as part of MSC Cruises' ground-breaking Renaissance program, will feature many distinct traits – including some industry firsts in service - especially designed for the cruising enjoyment of Chinese consumers. This will make it a much sought-after choice for cruises in the region." 

MSC Lirica is scheduled to reach her new homeport of Shanghai on  May 1, 2016, after a 60-day grand voyage from Rio de Janeiro via Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa and Dubai. While maintaining its Mediterranean atmosphere and service, the 65,000GRT, 2,600-passenger MSC Lirica will enjoy an industry-high percentage of native Mandarin speaking guest-facing crew and provide guests with all services in Mandarin. It will also offer popular as well as high-end Chinese cuisine as well as more traditional and popular entertainments.

More in-depth details about how MSC Lirica's product and services are uniquely tailored to serve the needs of Chinese consumers – including several industry firsts - will be announced at a press conference to be convened in Beijing in the coming weeks.

About CAISSA Touristic:

CAISSA Touristic was founded in 1993 in Europe. After 20 years of steady development, it has become an outstanding business brand in the China outbound tourism industry. It has set up branches in London, Paris, Hamburg, Los Angeles among other global core cities. In China, CAISSA Touristic has established subsidiaries in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and many core commercial cities. It has provided over 8,000 high-end tourism products that cover 100 countries worldwide to serve different consumer needs.

About MSC Cruises:

MSC Cruises, part of the  Mediterranean Shipping Company, is the market leader in Europe – including in the Mediterranean - South America and South Africa, and sails year-round in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Its seasonal itineraries cover northern Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, the French Antilles, South America, southern Africa, the Emirates and Oman.

MSC Cruises understands its responsibility towards the environments in which it operates and was the first company ever to earn the Bureau Veritas "7 Golden Pearls" for superior management and environmental stewardship.

In 2009, MSC Cruises began an enduring partnership with UNICEF to support various programs assisting children worldwide.

  Go to www.msccruises.co.za for more information and bookings