Chinese cruise ship returns to Jeju resort island after 6-year ban

Chinese cruise ships to return to Jeju resort island starting later this month

Chinese cruise ships will return to the resort island of Jeju starting later this month, South Korean officials said on August 14, after China lifted a six-year ban on group tours to South Korea.

Jeju Provincial Government has received many cruise bookings from China after the ban was lifted on August 10.

The first cruise ship, with a capacity of 25,000 tons, is expected to arrive in Jeju on August 31, with about 1,000 tourists.

Group tours, as well as cruise tourism, from China to South Korea have been virtually banned since March 2017, due to tensions between the two countries over the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea.

Jeju Provincial Government said that on August 10 alone, 53 cruise ships from China registered to visit Jeju, and reservations were fully booked until March next year.

In addition, there are 14 Chinese cruise ships arriving in Jeju this year, with five arriving in September, one arriving in October and eight arriving in December.

And next year through March, there will be 38 cruise ships departing from China stopping at the ports of Jeju and Gangjeong.

The number of tourists visiting Jeju by ship, mainly from China, hit a record high of 1.2 million in 2016.

According to Vietnam+