The idea is not just to enable tourists to take cruise trips from Qingdao, but also to encourage them to stay and travel in Qingdao.
The city's home port received 71 cruise visits in 2018 and took in 112,000 tourist visits, an increase of 3 percent over the previous year.
Xiamen, Guangzhou and Hainan province's Haikou have also offered support, including financial incentives, to local cruise operators.
This support has also encouraged industry players to make inroads into the cruise market.
A purpose-built cruise liner that was renovated for the luxury Asian and Chinese market was launched at the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal in mid-April.
Named Explorer Dream, the cruise liner belongs to Dream Cruises' fleet under Genting Cruise Lines, and is the first of its kind in eastern China.
The vessel offers 928 cabins and can host 1,856 passengers. Genting aims to tap into the eastern and northern Chinese market, which they estimate to be five times larger than the market in the south, according to Hui Lim, the deputy chief executive officer of Genting Hong Kong.
Sailing from its home port of Shanghai, the cruise liner will take guests to popular destinations in Japan, offering a range of three-to six-night itineraries, including three-night trips to Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe, and two-night round-trips to Okinawa.
Set to debut in 2021, Dream Cruises' first 200,000-ton Global Class ship will also be deployed in Shanghai as the largest cruise ship in the Asia-Pacific, the operator says.
In July 2017, Genting Cruise Lines launched their Golden Sea Route seven-night itinerary in Shanghai, ahead of signing a strategic memorandum of understanding in October 2018 with the government of Shanghai's Baoshan district to boost cooperation.
"The arrival of Explorer Dream will bring premium cruise travel products that will help propel the development of the cruise industry in China," says Su Ping, a senior district government official.
Genting is just one of several cruise operators who are looking to make a splash in the China market.
The US-based cruise company Royal Caribbean International will launch a new cruise ship with upgraded facilities in Shanghai in June 2019 along with new itineraries tailor-made for the Chinese market.
The company's cruise lines will this year stop at the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, according to Liu Zinan, president of the China and North Asia-Pacific region at Royal Caribbean International.
Genoa-headquartered Costa Cruises is due to put its Costa Venezia liner - which was designed and built especially for the Chinese market - into operation later this year, ahead of another new cruise liner scheduled to launch in 2020.
The Switzerland-based MSC Cruises will also roll out its latest flagship for China, the MSC Bellissima, next year.
"There's no doubt that China's cruise industry is still in infancy, and the whole industry, especially the numbers of cruise passengers, will continue to rise over the next five to 10 years," says Ye Xinliang, deputy director of the Shanghai International Cruise Business Institute.
"There appears to be huge potential when you examine the country's per capita disposable income and the current proportion of Chinese cruise passengers compared to other outbound travelers," Ye adds.
He proposed to improve market mechanisms among cruise companies, distributors and travel agencies to tap into the potential of the Chinese market.
He also urged market players to improve their understanding of the diverse consumption behaviors of Chinese travelers and develop more pertinent products accordingly.
Ye predicts that the numbers of Chinese cruise tourists will catch up with that of their counterparts in the US by 2035.
