Korea welcomed a total of 810,000 tourists aboard 414 cruise ships in 2024, nearly tripling and doubling the numbers of its tourists and cruise ships year-on-year from 273,000 and 203, respectively. This is an exceptional feat for Korea compared to the global growth in cruise tourism by 1.13x during the same period.[1]

Under the aim of holistically bolstering an integrated marine-cruise tourism sector, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST, Minister Yu In Chon) and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF, Minister Kang Do Hyung) executed a strategic program for key director-level personnel exchanges (Director of the Domestic Tourism Promotion Division, MCST – Director of the Marine Leisure Tourism Division, MOF). Building on such collaboration efforts, the two ministries jointly implemented the Cruise Tourism Promotion Plan on June 17, 2024, which outlines four strategic initiatives: improving infrastructure, enhancing tourism products, strengthening marketing and promotion, and implementing institutional reforms and incentive programs. The continued joint efforts together with local governments, the Korea Tourism Organization, and port authorities have resulted in impressive growth in cruise tourism.

Looking ahead, with already 560 cruise ship having applied for port access in 2025, an estimated 1.09 million cruise tourists are expected to visit this year.

The two ministries will continue their collaboration to further expand cruise tourism in Korea in 2025. Plans include the promotion of domestic cruise tourism through pilot coastal cruise programs, development of themed tourism products customized to each destination port, joint attraction of cruise ships with local port authorities, and increases in port facility fee reductions for cruise ships. These initiatives will continue to support the accelerated growth of the cruise sector while enhancing convenience for cruise tourists to Korea.