Seoul has decided to expand its visa waiver program to include all international cruise ship passengers, rather than just those traveling as part of group tours. Analysts say this change will encourage more non-Koreans to visito the island. Joseph Kim reports


Report

This is the Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal in Shanghai where nearly one million Chinese travelers pass through every year.

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750,000 Chinese departed Shanghai cruise terminal in 2015

Last year, more than 750,000 Chinese tourists departed from the international terminal and that number is expected to hit one million milestone this year.

Over 60 percent of international cruise liners that land in Jeju begin sailing out of the Shanghai terminal.

Everyone on board is part of a tour group.

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72-hour visa waiver for cruise passengers on group tours

Korea offers a 72 hour long visa waiver for international cruise passengers who buy tour packages from Chinese travel agencies designated by Seoul.

Individual tourists cannot join cruise tours.

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Visa waiver program being expanded to include all cruise passengers

However, Seoul has decided to expand coverage of the nation's visa waiver program to include all passengers aboard international cruise ships.

The program is expected to encourage more foreign independent travelers to visit the island.

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Trial operations over next six months

The Ministry of Justice will test-run the new visa waiver program for 6 months beginning this month for three cruise ships that link Korea, China and Japan.

After the trial, the new program will be fully implemented from April, 2017.
Chinese travel agencies welcome the program.

INTERVIEW
Ding Jiao Gang / Chinese travel agent
I believe the new visa waiver program will contribute to improved tour services for both China and Korea.
<인터뷰:딩 지아오강 중국 여행사 관계자>
"중국에서 판매하는 여행상품은 물론 한국의 기항지 여행상품의 수준도 상당히 올라갈 것으로 생각됩니다."

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Japan introduced similar program in 2015

The nation's competitor in cruise tourism, Japan introduced a visa waiver program for all cruise tourists back in January, of 2015.

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Change expected to boost cruise arrivals

The number of individual tourists on cruise ships is expected to rise, which would boost the local economy.

INTERVIEW
Lee Gi-u / Representative of Province
We expect the new visa waiver program to change the shopping-oriented tourism pattern led by Chinese travelers on group tours.
<인터뷰:이기우 제주도 해양산업과장>
"개별관광객에 대한 비자 면제가 되면 그동안 단체관광으로 인한 쇼핑위주의 관광이 됐던 그런 문제들이 많이 해소돼서 질적인..."

[Reporter] Joseph Kim
[Cemera] Han kyeong-yeop

As the number of international cruise travelers continues to grow, the nation's new visa policy would be a windfall for the local economy.

Joseph Kim, KCTV