Officials from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Key Port Representatives Visit Busan Port

Discussion on Cruise Cooperation Plans with Busan Port Authority

Busan Port Authority (BPA, President Kang Junseok) announced that officials from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Japan Nationwide Cruise Promotion Association, professors from Osaka University, and others visited Busan Port on the 13th.

Officials from the Japanese Ministry of Transport and others at the Busan Port Authority meeting.

The purpose of their visit was to inspect the cruise facilities at Busan Port and to explore ways to enhance cruise cooperation with Busan Port.

The delegation arrived at the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal around 7 a.m. aboard the Italian-flagged cruise ship Costa Serena (114,000 tons) from Fukuoka, Japan. They received a briefing from the Busan Port Authority on the current status of cruise facilities and passenger usage at Busan Port, discussed mutual cooperation measures, and departed at 3 p.m.

According to the port authority, the delegation included officials from ports across Japan, such as Ishikawa, Kanazawa, Shizuoka, Kobe, Osaka, Hiroshima, Karatsu, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, and Miyazaki. Various discussions were held to promote cooperation in the cruise industry.

In October 2015, BPA formed a cruise cooperation body (Korea-Japan Five Port Liaison Council) with Kanazawa, Sakaiminato, Fukuoka, and Maizuru, and jointly promoted sales activities. The following year, they developed Costa Cruise products calling at these five ports.

Last year, more than 50% of the approximately 140,000 foreign cruise tourists who visited Busan Port were Japanese. Domestic travel agencies are also continuously developing cruise products that use Busan Port as a home port and call at Japanese ports, further expanding cruise exchanges between the two countries.

Hong Sungjun, Head of Operations at BPA, stated, "Busan Port has been promoting cruise cooperation with Japanese ports for many years. We will continue to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with many Japanese ports to promote mutual development through the cruise industry."