Jeju Island Is Open Again For Broadcast Ships Starting Next Year, Passengers May Down

Illustration of cruise ships. (Wikimedia Commons/Alpsdake)

Cruise ship tours will return to Jeju Island, South Korea next year after two years of status due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Jeju Tourism Organization (JTO), his party won a joint offer with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries to receive 32 cruise ships departing from Japan next year. JTO estimates that the number of passengers will reach 55,000 people.

The first ship to arrive at Jeju port was a Princess Cruise ship with 3,400 passengers on March 19. The ship will travel 14 more to the island throughout the year.

Starting May 5, an MSC Cruises ship with up to 4,000 passengers will arrive on the island, to then make a total of 11 more trips to the island by the end of next year.

In addition, the Regent Seven Seas Cruises six-star luxury yacht with 800 passengers will dock in Jeju on March 21. There are also other cruises from Holland America, Swan Hellenic, to other cruise ships from Australia and Germany will visit the island as well.

South Korea's Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries announced on October 19 that it would allow foreign travelers to board ships arriving on Jeju Island.

Cruise ship tour to Jeju Island peaked in 2016, with more than 1.2 million passengers arriving on the island.

However, the number fell to 21,700 in 2018 as Korean-China tensions escalated, with the deployment of the US High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Terminal system in the previous year. At that time, more than 90 percent of cruise ship tourists who came came from China.

In February 2020, the Center for Disaster Management and Central Safety (CDSCH) banned cruise ships from entering Korean ports, foreign travelers should not come ashore to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus. No cruise ships entered the country in 2020 and 2021.

Last May, in response to economic difficulties in the tourism industry, the marine ministry allowed cruise ships on condition that no passengers had disembarked from the ship docked.

All passengers are required to wear masks indoors and provide personal health information through the Q-code system. Digital platforms will be used to pre-register quarantine information, before they enter Korea.

Foreign travelers infected with the coronavirus or showing associated symptoms will not be allowed off their ships.