Nanhai Dream with over 280 passengers left Sanya on Dec 9, 2020.[Photo/Xinhua]

Cruise trips to the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea resumed on Wednesday, 11 months after being suspended due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

In what is hailed as a significant boost to tourism recovery in the post-coronavirus era, the Nanhai Dream with over 280 passengers left Sanya, a resort city in South China's Hainan province, on Wednesday afternoon.

Another cruise ship, the Changle Gongzhu or Princess Changle, is scheduled to resume operations on Thursday, with some 220 passengers likely to be on board.

Dong Yan and Wang Xiaoyu, a couple from northeast China's Liaoning province, were among the first group of tourists on the Nanhai Dream. "We heard that the Xisha Islands opened to tourists, and its scenery is unique, so we decided to visit the place," Dong said.

The Xisha tour of each ship will last three nights and four days. Tourists will sail to the Yongle Islands in the Xisha Islands, visiting Yinyu island and Quanfu island.

Cabin rates for the trip range from over 4,000 yuan (about $612) to more than 30,000 yuan.

The Nanhai Dream can accommodate 721 travelers, and the Princess Changle can carry 466 travelers, but as part of precautions against COVID-19, the number of passengers on the cruise liners has been capped at 50 percent of full capacity. The limit can be increased to 70 percent after two weeks of operation if anti-virus measures prove adequate.

Passengers are required to provide a negative nucleic acid test report conducted within seven days before boarding. They will also have their body temperatures checked three times a day during the trip.

Cruise tourism to the Xisha Islands started in 2013 but discontinued in January following the coronavirus outbreak.

Sansha Nanhai Dream Cruises Co., Ltd., which owns the Nanhai Dream, said adequate preparations are in place for the operation resumption, including having an epidemic prevention and control plan and emergency plans.

"We have doctors on the ship, and if something unusual happens, we have an isolation room on board," said Yang Hua, general manager of the company.

Yang noted the resumption of the Xisha cruise route, leading to the recovery of China's cruise sector, will boost the confidence of the industry.

Xisha Islands has become a new hotspot as the tourism sector is recovering from the epidemic, said Zhu Huomeng, deputy general manager of Hainan Harbor and Shipping Holding Co., Ltd. "The resumption of the Xisha cruise route will be a boost to the tourism industry and enhance the confidence of operators like us."

China will likely grow into the world's largest cruise market by 2030, with 8 to 10 million customers per year, according to figures by the Shanghai International Shipping Institute.

In 2018, China dominated the passenger share of Asia's cruise market, contributing more than 70 percent of the region's 4.24 million passengers, according to data released by the Cruise Lines International Association last year.