JAPAN’S lifting of visa regulations for Chinese tourists on board selected cruise ships that homeport in China has encouraged greater travel to the country.
About 10 ships, including a number owned by Royal Caribbean International and Costa Cruises, have been approved by both Japanese and Chinese governments.
Yang Lei, CEO of Ctrip’s cruise department said online cruise bookings on Ctrip.com to Japan and/or South Korea have increased over 30 per cent in the immediate aftermath of the March 18 announcement.
A number of cruise operators originally offering mono South Korea itineraries now also include calls in Japan.
“Visiting two countries is definitely more attractive to our customers,” said Zhang Ji, cruise product director of Tuniu.com, a Chinese OTA.
With Japan’s visa waivers, South Korea’s Busan and Incheon ports may need to lower their port charges to compete with Japanese ports in the future, he added.
One Japanese port that has benefited from the visa waiver is Nagasaki’s new Sasebo port, which will welcome 15 visits during the 2015 season.
By Li Xu.
