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Qingdao Cruise Home Port transports 32,000 passengers

( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2016-01-22

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More than 32,000 inbound and outbound tourists have transited through Qingdao Cruise Home Port since it began operations on May 29, 2015, according to Qingdao daily.

The figures, released by the tourism bureau of Qingdao, and eastern coastal city of Shandong province, show that the port saw 38 voyages in the same time period and signals cruises as a new growth area of Qingdao’s tourism.

The port has three berths along the 966-meter waterfront, including one ultra-large berth capable of hosting the world's largest cruise ships, such as Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

Qingdao has a geographic advantage as it’s close to Japan and South Korea, so passenger liners from the port mainly depart for the two countries.

The routes include: Qingdao-Jeju-Fukuoka, Qingdao-Fukuoka-Nagasaki, Qingdao-Shimonoseki-Cheju, Qingdao-Cheju-Kobe. What’s more, the cruise ship MS Chinese Taishan opened the Qingdao-Keelung-Taichung-Gaoxiong-Hualien-Qingdao route during Nov 2-9, 2015. It was the first ship route bound for Taiwan in Shandong province.

To build the city into "northern China's cruise center", the Qingdao tourism bureau is striving to popularize its cruise tourism.

On Nov 16, 2015, Qingdao started to offer 72-hour visa-free entry for international transit passengers as a move to boost tourism and business.

Travelers from 51 countries including France, the United States, Italy, Brazil, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Singapore may enter without visas under the policy.

This year, Qingdao will hold the China International Cruise Summit. Cruise companies, such as Royal Caribbean International, MSC Cruise and Carnival Cruise, and cruise home ports of the US, Canada, Russia, Japan and South Korea, will be invited.

It will promote related facilities and tourism products with the aid of international exhibitions, reinforce exchanges with international cruise companies and port cities and help to enhance the city's image.