250,000 Tourists Used Incheon Coastal Road... 71% Increase Compared to Last Year

Incheon Port Authority (IPA) announced on the 11th that the total number of domestic and international tourists using Incheon Port in the first quarter of this year reached 250,000. This represents a 71% increase compared to 146,000 during the same period last year.

The passenger terminals currently operating at Incheon Port are categorized by vessel type into Korea-China international car ferry, cruise, and coastal passenger vessels. The number of tourists by vessel type this year is 108,698 for the Korea-China international car ferry, 6,147 for cruises, and 134,430 for coastal passenger vessels.

The shipping industry attributes the increase in first-quarter performance to the rise in world cruises and Chinese group tourists visiting Incheon Port compared to last year.

Arrivals at Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal

As of March this year, the average daily number of passengers using the Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal on the Korea-China sea route was 1,194, an increase of 718 passengers per day compared to last year. Additionally, the Incheon-Dalian route aims to resume passenger transportation within this month, which is expected to contribute to an increase in passengers in the first half of this year.

The cruise passenger performance in the first quarter of this year was 6,147, a significant increase compared to 275 in the first quarter of last year. Since all ship supplies worth approximately 4.1 billion KRW were supplied at Incheon Port, IPA believes that operating cruise homeports has had a positive impact on the Incheon regional economy.

Although the first-quarter performance of coastal passengers traveling to Incheon’s coastal islands such as Deokjeokdo, Yeonpyeongdo, and Baengnyeongdo slightly declined compared to the same period last year, the upward trend continues and is expected to increase further during the spring and summer vacation seasons.

Kim Sang-gi, Vice President of IPA’s Operations Division, said, "We plan to revitalize marine tourism by working with related organizations to attract overseas tourists and conducting island travel campaigns. We will continuously improve the conditions of passenger terminals so that users can be satisfied not only quantitatively but also qualitatively."