Arriving cruise passengers set a new record
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This year alone, 160 sea voyages will dock at Busan Port, bringing tourists from around the globe
Passengers from the M/S Volendam, a cruise ship from the Netherlands, disembark at Busan International Cruise Terminal on March 1 and board a tour bus.
There has been a sudden influx of cruise tourists to Busan. As the number of world-renowned cruises docking in the city has increased, so has the number of tourists. This year, a total of 160 cruises are expected to visit, bringing about 210,000 tourists.
This is a three-fold increase compared to the 75,000 who visited in 2011.
The 60,000-ton M/S Volendam arrived at Busan Port on March 1, followed by the 140,000-ton Marina and Voyager, 85,000-ton Atlantica, and other super luxury cruises. Large ships exceeding 70,000 tons will enter the port 41 times this year, while medium-size ships between 50,000 and 70,000 tons will visit 35 times and small ships below 50,000 tons will enter port 20 times.
This represents a significant increase compared to the 42 ships that visited in 2011 and 126 last year. There are about 210,000 cruise tourists entering Busan, which is 2.8 times larger than 75,000 tourists in 2011. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of Chinese tourists, in part due to Busan City’s aggressive marketing strategy. Busan City, the Busan Port Authority (BPA) and the Busan Tourism Organization have undertaken marketing efforts to attract cruises from the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan among others.
Most recently, Busan was successful in attracting China’s first super luxury international cruise ship Henna (47,000 tons).
Busan City will also participate in the world’s largest cruise convention “2013 Cruise Shipping Miami” held in Florida from March 15-18.
During the convention, Busan City will introduce itself as a port of call in Northeast Asia and actively attract cruise ships to Busan. Busan City and the Busan Tourism Association will also conduct large-scale welcoming and farewell ceremonies for cruise tourists and provide various conveniences such as interpreters and cruise buddies to help foster tourism.
The source of news: Dynamic Busan
