Lotte Tour Development Signs Cruise Operation Agreement with Seosan City, First in Chungnam

Development of Products for Daesan Port to Japan and Taiwan Route Next Year

Lotte Tour Development announced on the 1st at 2 PM at the Lotte Tour Seoul Branch that it has signed a business agreement with Seosan City, Chungcheongnam-do, and will operate an international cruise departing from Seosan Daesan Port as its home port.

Baekhyun, CEO of Lotte Tour Development (right), is taking a commemorative photo with Lee Wan-seop, Mayor of Seosan, at the business agreement ceremony.
[Photo by Lotte Tour Development]

Through this agreement, Lotte Tour Development plans to deploy the charter cruise ship Costa Serena from May to October 2024, developing a 6-7 day international cruise itinerary that calls at major Northeast Asian port cities such as Japan and Taiwan, with Seosan Daesan Port as the home port.

This is the first time cruise port infrastructure has been established in Chungnam, which was previously a barren area for the international cruise industry. The company emphasized that this is an attempt to move away from the existing cruise hub cities such as Incheon, Jeju, Busan, Sokcho, and Yeosu.

The Costa Serena is the largest cruise ship departing from South Korea as a home port (114,000 tons, length 290m, width 35m). It can accommodate up to 3,780 passengers and is owned by Costa Cruises, which belongs to the Carnival Group, the world's number one cruise company.

It is equipped with two course-style formal dining restaurants that can accommodate over 1,000 people, a total of four swimming pools and water slides, and a grand theater that can simultaneously host various performances and events for 1,400 people.

Baek Hyun, CEO of Lotte Tour Development, said, "Since starting the first domestic charter cruise operation in September 2010, we have been working on building cruise port infrastructure in Sokcho, Incheon, Jeju, and revitalizing the local economies of port call areas. With this international cruise operation agreement with Seosan City, we will lead the establishment of cruise infrastructure in the Chungcheong region as well as the popularization of domestic cruise travel."