All-around service is key to meeting Chinese needs abroad

HNA Tourism Group made an interesting observation on its cruise ship Henna: While Western cruise-ship customers love lying on the deck taking in the sun, many Chinese travelers follow a decidedly Chinese pursuit and gather to play mahjong below deck.

So the company has prepared mahjong sets on the ship in case people ask for them. "With more Chinese tourists traveling abroad, we have to respect their special demands," the company says.

Henna is the first cruise ship owned by a Chinese company, and so far it has sailed relatively short distances, between Sanya and Vietnam, Tianjin and Japan, Shanghai and Taiwan and Haikou and Vietnam.