Incheon City announced that it conducted a fam tour on the 19th and 20th of last month by inviting MSC Cruises, a global cruise line, and Lotte Tour Development, a cruise-specialized travel agency, in collaboration with the Incheon Port Authority and Incheon Tourism Organization.
The product development managers who participated in the fam tour visited major tourist attractions in Incheon such as the Open Port, Ganghwa Peace Observatory, and Songdo Central Park, and plan to develop new cruise tourism products that will call at Incheon in the future.
MSC Cruises, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is the third largest cruise line in the world after Carnival and Royal Caribbean, operating 22 cruise ships. Lotte Tour Development has been operating domestic charter cruises for 12 years.
Participants of the MSC Cruise and Lotte Tour Development fam tour are touring the Incheon Hanji Workshop. [Photo by Incheon City]
Recently, the number of new tourist attractions has increased with the opening of Sangsang Platform (a complex cultural space) and the National Museum of World Writing, and fam tour demand from cruise lines and travel agencies has been rising due to regional festivals and performances linked to K-content, such as the Pentaport Rock Festival, INK Concert, and Open Port Night Festival.
Accordingly, Incheon City promoted its status as the largest domestic cruise infrastructure and diverse tourism courses in Incheon through six port sales events, including the 12th China Qingdao International Cruise Industry Forum held last month, Seatrade Cruise Global, and the Korea Theme Tourism Expo.
Additionally, seven fam tours were conducted targeting cruise lines and travel agencies such as AIDA Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and AJ Incentive, showcasing Incheon’s charm where past, present, and future coexist through experiences like wearing hanbok, traditional cultural activities, riding water taxis in Central Park, visiting Sinpo International Market, and enjoying Korean cuisine.
As a result, among the 20,148 tourists who have arrived by cruise so far, 14,293 (70.9%) participated in Incheon tourism. This is more than double the achievement compared to last year, when 6,526 (35.4%) out of 18,417 tourists visited Incheon.
An official from Incheon City stated, "We plan to continuously strengthen communication and cooperation with related organizations to attract cruise tourists and promote policies that activate cruise tourism in Incheon to contribute to the local economy."
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