Monday, February 12, 2024
Taiwan transportation ministry hopes a three-pronged plan will return the cruise industry to pre-pandemic numbers this year.
The ministry’s Maritime and Port Bureau, Tourism Administration, and Taiwan International Ports Corporation are joining forces to strengthen international marketing, comprehensively upgrade port tourism facilities, and increase incentives for cruise ships to come to Taiwan.
In addition to recently holding the first Asia Archipelago Cruise Alliance (AACA) conference, which attracted major international cruise operators, the Maritime and Port Bureau has also stepped up its efforts to invite local governments, tourism circles, and travel agencies to form a national cruise industry team.
Maritime and Port Bureau Director General Yeh Hsieh-lung (葉協隆) says that Taiwan is actually the center of the entire Asian island chain, connecting to Japan and South Korea in the north and to the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia in the south.
He emphasizes that current mainstream cruises actually do not give passengers in-depth contact with more special cuisine and beautiful scenery.
International cruise numbers, which were severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, have gradually recovered. In 2019, a peak of 671 international cruises made berth in Taiwan.
2023 saw 327 ships, among them the Resorts World One which pioneered the Kaohsiung-Hong Kong dual home port model.
The cruise industry brought the total number of foreign tourists to 140,000 or 90% of the pre-pandemic level.
In 2024, the MSC Glory began Keelung-Okinawa dual-homeport voyages from January available until March.
Companies including Crystal Cruises, Victoria Cruise Lines, and Phoenix Reisen will also visit Taiwan for the first time this year with a forecasted 477 ships may contribute to an estimated 160,000 visitors.
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