Affected by the continued disruption to Red Sea shipping, major carriers such as Maersk and COSCO Shipping simultaneously raised freight rates for Asia-Europe container shipping and passenger-cargo mixed vessel space on April 28, 2026; compounded by tight space during the peak season, from May onward, the international-leg air + sea intermodal costs for outbound cultural and tourism groups departing from Zhengzhou and Luoyang (including study tours, senior tours, and customized family groups) are expected to rise by 12%–18%. Sub-sectors such as cultural and tourism operations, cross-border services, and destination handling and execution need to pay close attention to the substantial pressure this price increase will place on pricing systems, profit structures, and customer communication.

Event Overview

On April 28, 2026, major shipping companies such as Maersk and COSCO Shipping announced increases in freight rates for Asia-Europe container transport and passenger-cargo mixed vessel space. This adjustment directly stems from the prolonged disruption to shipping in the Red Sea region, resulting in longer voyages via the Cape of Good Hope, lower vessel turnaround efficiency, and tighter effective space supply. Accordingly, multiple destination management companies in Henan confirmed that from May 2026 onward, the costs of the international leg for outbound cultural and tourism groups departing from Zhengzhou and Luoyang (including the air + sea intermodal segment) will rise by 12%–18%, affecting all product types such as study tour groups, senior groups, and customized family groups. Relevant institutions have now initiated contingency plans for repricing and cost-sharing mechanisms.

Which market segments will be affected

Outbound cultural and tourism product planning and group tour companies

As the international leg is a rigid cost item and accounts for a relatively high proportion of the total cost of outbound group tours (usually reaching 35%–55%), this freight increase will directly compress gross margin space. The impact is reflected in the following: contracts for groups originally scheduled to depart after May face the risk of upside-down pricing; signed but unfulfilled orders are under pressure from customer renegotiation or cancellation; and the product mix needs to be reassessed for the sustainability of high-margin/low-frequency group types.

Henan local destination handling service agencies

As one of the actual bearers of international-leg costs, destination handling agencies need to coordinate with overseas partners to recalculate space procurement prices and settlement cycles. The impact is reflected in the following: the original fixed-quotation model is difficult to sustain; cost-sharing terms with tour organizers urgently need supplementation or revision; and some small and medium-sized destination handlers are facing increased pressure on cash flow and greater uncertainty in contract performance.

Cross-border multimodal transport service providers

For service providers offering “air + sea” intermodal solutions, the pricing anchor of their services has shifted. The impact is reflected in the following: intermodal solution design must simultaneously incorporate transport capacity stability assessments (such as whether to switch to Middle East–non-Red Sea routes); systematic quotation tools need to dynamically embed route freight fluctuation modules; and customers’ demand for negotiating the “price lock period” and “force majeure exemption clauses” has increased significantly.

What key points should relevant companies or practitioners focus on, and how should they respond at present

Monitor the pace and regional coverage of subsequent official freight rate updates from shipping companies

The current price increase is clearly directed at Asia-Europe routes, but if the Red Sea situation worsens further, it may also affect related routes such as India-Pakistan and the eastern Mediterranean coast. Companies should establish a monitoring mechanism for announcements on shipping companies’ official websites, focusing on the rate notices (GRI, PSS, etc.) issued at the beginning of each month by major companies such as Maersk, COSCO Shipping, and CMA CGM, and avoid relying solely on one-sided information from agents.

Differentiate the cost sensitivity of different group types and prioritize renegotiation of quotations for high-ratio, long-cycle products

The international leg accounts for more than 45% on average for study tour groups and senior groups, while customized family groups, due to scattered space bookings and weaker bargaining power, are more likely to see actual increases close to the upper limit (18%). It is recommended to first sort out the list of groups signed but not yet collected for May–July, mark cost fluctuation levels across four dimensions—group type, place of departure, destination, and departure time—and launch customer communication and clause revisions in tiers.

Prudently assess the legal applicability and execution feasibility of the “cost-sharing mechanism”

Multiple destination handling agencies in Henan mentioned launching cost-sharing contingency plans, but it should be noted that Article 67 of China’s Tourism Law provides principled provisions on cost sharing under force majeure circumstances, while whether freight increases constitute “force majeure” still lacks support from judicial precedents. In practice, it is advisable to clearly define triggering conditions, calculation methods, written notice deadlines, and dispute handling procedures in supplemental agreements to avoid disputes afterward.

Test the operability of alternative international-leg combination plans in advance

For example: assess the feasibility of connecting overseas flights via the Central Asia railway (Zhengzhou—Khorgos—Almaty—Europe); or explore hybrid routes combining transit flights through Middle Eastern hubs (such as Dubai) + short-sea shipping. Such plans require verification of overseas ground service responsiveness, customs clearance timeliness, and the completeness of insurance coverage, and should not be treated merely as theoretical alternatives.

Editor’s View / Industry Observation

Observably, this round of price increases is not an isolated price fluctuation, but rather an explicit release of the critical threshold of resilience in the shipping supply chain after the Red Sea crisis has persisted for more than 14 months. From an industry perspective, it is more like a structural pressure signal—that is, the traditional outbound cultural and tourism product development logic dominated by a “fixed-cost model” is accelerating its shift toward a “dynamic cost response mechanism.” Analysis shows that there has not yet been large-scale group cancellations or tour suspensions, indicating that the market is still in a digestion period; however, if conditions for Red Sea passage do not improve within the next 6 months, combined with the arrival of the summer peak season, cost transmission may escalate from “minor adjustments at the quotation end” to “product line contraction” and “re-screening of customer segments.” What the industry needs to continue observing is: the timing of the next round of GRI releases by shipping companies, whether Henan’s cultural and tourism authorities will issue phased relief guidance, and whether cross-border intermodal service providers can form regional joint bargaining mechanisms.

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Conclusion

This freight increase is a precise transmission of changes in the external shipping environment to the midstream links of the cultural and tourism industry chain. Its essence is not short-term disturbance, but a systematic test of the current granularity of cost management, the depth of contract risk control, and the response speed of the supply chain. At present, it is more appropriate to understand it as a stress test rather than an industry turning point; the key to a rational response lies in transforming passive price adjustment into proactive restructuring—restructuring quotation models, restructuring collaboration mechanisms, and restructuring pathways for customer expectation management.

Information sources

The main information sources are the Asia-Europe route freight adjustment announcements issued by Maersk and COSCO Shipping on April 28, 2026; the industry update bulletin published on April 29 on the official website of the Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; and the “Letter of Explanation on Changes in International-Leg Costs Starting in May” sent on April 30 by three local Zhengzhou destination handling agencies (unnamed) to their partner tour operators. Subsequent developments in the Red Sea situation, whether shipping companies will expand the scope of price increases, and whether the cultural and tourism authorities will introduce supporting measures all still require continuous observation.