Pyeongtaek Port of South Korea. (Source: China Daily)
On August 6, a representative of the Korean shipping industry said that sea tourism routes between Korea and China will resume after 3 years and 7 months of suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jiaodong Shipping announced that it will start transporting passengers by car ferry on the Weihai-Pyeongtaek route from August 9.
Meanwhile, Yantai Ferry and Weidong Ferry will start car ferry operations from August 10 to carry passengers on the Yantai-Pyeongtaek and Weihai-Incheon routes, respectively. Weidong Ferry will also start transporting passengers on the Qingdao-Incheon route from August 11.
This is the first time that passenger sea transport between China and South Korea has resumed since January 2020, when China's strict lockdown policy to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic banned Chinese passengers from traveling to and from abroad.
In March, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced plans to normalize the operation of South Korea-China car ferries, following China’s easing of its lockdown policies. However, for more than four months, the South Korean shipping industry has not actually carried passengers.
An official from the Incheon Port Authority said the South Korean government has given the green light to transport passengers via car ferries to and from China, but due to tense diplomatic relations between South Korea and China, actual passenger transport is difficult.
However, ferry services between the two countries will gradually resume, amid a recent increase in demand from Chinese tourists to South Korea following the easing of lockdown policies and the containment of Covid-19 infection rates.
According to data from the Korea Tourism Organization, of the 961,000 foreign tourists who visited South Korea in June, the number of visitors from China reached 168,000, ranking second on the list. Japan topped the list with 197,000, while the number of visitors from the United States ranked third, with 121,000.
Incheon Port Authority has plans to welcome Chinese tourists again after more than three years of suspension. Currently, Incheon Port authorities are inspecting security equipment and luggage transport vehicles in preparation for streamlining the process of welcoming tourists.
VNA
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