Busan City, First to Host Four Luxury Cruise Ships Docking Simultaneously

Cruise Docking, Utilizing Terminal Maximum Capacity for Distributed Arrival

City and Related Organizations Promote Cruise Tourism Activation and Global Hub City Development

Four luxury cruise ships will dock simultaneously for the first time over three days.

On October 18 last year, two cruise ships arriving at Busan Port International Passenger Terminal.

Busan City has faced difficulties attracting cruise ships due to COVID-19 and other factors, but through joint efforts with related organizations such as Busan Port Authority, Busan Immigration Office, Busan Tourism Organization, and Busan Tourism Association, it has achieved the milestone of having four cruise ships dock simultaneously.

While there have been instances of three cruise ships docking simultaneously, including on the 2nd, this is the first time that four ships have docked at the same time, making it even more significant.

The four ships arriving this time are luxury-class cruise ships on worldwide routes with stays of one night and two days.

The four ships docking are ▲ Serenade of the Seas (9,000 tons, 2,700 passengers), visiting Busan for the first time ▲ Seabourn Sojourn (32,000 tons, 470 passengers), staying in Busan for one night and two days (April 2?3) during its approximately 140-day worldwide itinerary ▲ Silver Moon (40,000 tons, 690 passengers), a luxury-class ship ▲ Le Soleal (10,000 tons, 200 passengers).

With four large cruise ships docking simultaneously, related organizations are also joining forces to ensure smooth docking and tourism marketing targeting visitors.

Busan Port Authority is utilizing the maximum capacity of terminals where cruise ships can berth: the ‘Busan Port International Passenger Terminal’ (Dong-gu) will accommodate Serenade of the Seas, Seabourn Sojourn, and Silver Moon, while the ‘Busan International Cruise Terminal’ (Yeongdo-gu) will accommodate Le Soleal.

The city will present a commemorative plaque to the cruise line officials to welcome Serenade of the Seas, which is docking in Busan for the first time.

Additionally, on the 2nd, the president of the Busan Tourism Organization boarded the Seabourn Sojourn and gave a lecture titled ‘Cruise Tourism City Busan’ to tourists on board.

The Busan Tourism Association plans to establish a visitor reception system by operating tourist information centers and providing free shuttle buses to Busan Station from the time the cruise ships dock until they depart, ensuring convenience for individual tourists.

Visitors on the cruise ships are expected to tour major representative tourist attractions in Busan before the ships depart.

The passengers on these cruise ships come from various nationalities including the United States and Europe, and they plan to visit Busan’s representative tourist sites such as Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Jagalchi Market, and Gamcheon Culture Village.

Park Geun-rok, Director of the Tourism MICE Bureau of Busan City, said, “We expect the cruise industry, which was temporarily stagnant due to COVID-19, to be revitalized with the simultaneous docking of these four cruise ships.” He added, “We will continue to attract more cruise ships to Busan to promote cruise tourism and strive to establish Busan as a ‘Global Hub City.’”