Busan Port Cruise Route Reopens After 3 Years

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] The cruise route at Busan Port, which had been closed due to COVID-19, will reopen after three years.

According to Busan Port Authority (BPA), on March 15, the 28,000-ton MS Amadea of the German company Bernhard Schulte will arrive at Busan Port International Passenger Terminal carrying 600 passengers after calling at six Japanese ports including Tokyo and Nagoya.

This will be the first cruise ship to dock at Busan Port since the entry ban was imposed in February 2020, and many sectors such as travel agencies and the tourism industry, which have been waiting for the resumption of cruises, are looking forward to it.

Busan Port International Passenger Terminal.

BPA added on the 13th that more than 80 cruise ships are scheduled to call at Busan Port in 2023. This is about 70 to 80% of the pre-COVID-19 level.

Ahead of the cruise ship arrivals, BPA held a meeting on the 13th with eight related agencies of CIQ (Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine) to share the cruise ship arrival plans and discuss procedures for tourist entry and exit, as well as quarantine measures.

Kang Jun-seok, president of BPA, said, “We will conduct targeted marketing tailored to the characteristics of Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and actively promote Busan Port to cruise lines through familiarization tours, aiming to revitalize cruises as soon as possible.”