100,000-ton cruise ship, the Golden Princess, is docked at the International Cruise Terminal on June 8. (image: Yonhap)
BUSAN, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – Over the past few years, Busan, Korea’s second most populous city, has grown increasingly popular as a cruise destination.
The number of tourists arriving on cruise ships, which topped 50,000 in 2011, began to increase rapidly beginning in 2012, jumping to 113,000 in 2013, and then doubling again to 245,000 in 2014. After dipping to 163,000 in 2015 after Korea’s MERS outbreak, more than 500,000 cruise passengers visited Busan this year, surpassing the half-million milestone for the first time.
The Busan Port Authority expects the increase to continue, and officials anticipate that more than 700,000 cruise visitors will make port next year. Some 30 cruise ships are so far scheduled to land in Busan for a total of 280 visits throughout 2017, compared to 220 port calls this year.
According to officials, the fast-growing cruise market in China is the biggest reason for the city’s increasing popularity, with ship owners operating bigger ships (100,000-ton plus) that can carry over 4,000 passengers in the region.
Such vessels, which only visited the city eight times in 2011, jumped in number this year to 120, including two of the biggest cruise ships operating in Asia – the MS Ovation of the Seas and MS Quantum of the Seas, each coming in at 168,666 tons.
In an effort to better accommodate cruise passengers, local authorities are making a handful of improvements to related facilities and regulations, starting with increasing the maximum height of ships allowed to pass under the Busan Harbor Bridge from 60 meters to 64 meters to allow larger ships to use the city’s newly-built Busan Port International Passenger Terminal.
Officials also plan to build an additional immigration center at the International Passenger Terminal by April to ease the processing time for immigration, while the International Cruise Terminal (Yeongdo) is currently being renovated to accommodate cruise ships of up to 220,000 tons.
By Joseph Shin (jss539@koreabizwire.com)
