The luxury ship Henna owned by HNA Tourism. Photo provided to China Daily

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.

Established in Beijing in 2007, HNA Tourism operates in more than 20 countries in Europe, America and Asia, serving around 1.6 million tourists last year.

Under the tutelage of its parent company HNA Group, which operates air transportation, real estate, retail, financial services, tourism and logistics, HNA Tourism has quickly grown into a tourism service conglomerate operating airlines, cruises, financing platforms and hotels.

The brands it operates include Capital Airlines, Deer Jet, Caissa, and HNA Cruises, Hong Thai Travel Services and Tangla Hotel. Zhang Ling, chairman of HNA Tourism, says Europe is a strategic market for the company and it will seize the business opportunities that come with the influx of Chinese tourists.

Recently, the group increased its stake in the hotel group to 29.5 percent, becoming the biggest shareholder.

Its hotels will provide rooms for HNA Group's subsidiary company HNA Tourism Group. HNA operates more than 380 hotels in 26 countries, with more than 60,000 rooms.

HNA Tourism is ranked No 6 on the list of top 20 Chinese tourism companies, the third consecutive year that it has been on the list, the China Tourism Academy says.

Apart from cooperating with NH hotels (a Spanish hotel group), HNA Tourism is also building a Chinese hotel brand, the Tangla, serving premium Chinese travelers.

Yang Jianhong, vice-chairman and CEO of HNA Tourism, says a Chinese-operated hotel definitely knows more about Chinese customers' needs, and the authentic Chinese ambience may also attract more Western customers.

The first Tangla hotel opened in 2009, and there are now 10 in China and abroad, including in New York and Brussels. The company says it plans to open another 10 worldwide soon.