The itinerary changes are in response to the Chinese government advising travel companies to halt trips to South Korea following tensions over Seoul's deployment of a US missile defense system.
Reuters said the move makes Royal Caribbean 'one of the first major travel firms to publicly stop or restrict trips to South Korea' after last week's media reports that Beijing had asked travel sellers to drop Korean destinations.
In a research note about the issue early this week, UBS said China accounts for 9% of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s capacity this year. Analyst Robin Farley pointed out not all itineraries from China visit South Korea, and Japanese ports had been expected as the likely substitute.
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