Pohang City Aims for Two Goals... Attracting Chinese Cruise Ships and Cargo Volume

Participation in China International Cruise Summit, Promoting as 'Optimal Cruise Port of Call'

Growing Cruise Market... Full Effort for Early Development of Yeongilman Port Infrastructure

Pohang City participated in the 'China International Cruise Summit' held in Qingdao, China, from the 26th to the 28th, promoting Yeongilman Port in Pohang to Chinese port authorities, cruise lines, and travel agencies.

On the 27th, Sohn Jeongho, Director of the Marine and Fisheries Bureau of Pohang City, introduced Pohang during the Cruise Leader Forum session aboard the Chinese cruise ship Blue Dream Melody.

The cruise summit, held onboard the Blue Dream Melody under the theme 'New Opportunities in the Cruise Industry, New Driving Forces for Culture, Tourism, and Economy,' was attended by about 1,000 participants from government agencies, port authorities, cruise lines, travel agencies, and cruise industry professionals from Korea, China, Japan, the Philippines, and other countries. They discussed ways to achieve mutual growth through the cruise industry.

During the Cruise Leader Forum session, Pohang City introduced the cruise infrastructure of Yeongilman Port under the theme 'Pohang, a Marine Tourism City,' proposed cruise tourism routes based in Pohang, and promoted the city's attractions and culinary offerings.

Additionally, through a joint meeting with Blue Dream Cruise, a Chinese cruise line, Shandong Port Group, and the Qingdao Port Authority, consensus was reached on attracting cruise ships to Yeongilman Port and revitalizing the container terminal.

At the event, a representative from Blue Dream Cruise stated, "We are looking for new cities like Pohang to expand the appeal of our cruise products," emphasizing, "It is important to promote Pohang's attractions not only to cruise lines but also to China's specialized cruise travel agencies." Moving forward, Blue Dream Cruise and Pohang City agreed to pursue a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop cruise tourism products and organize familiarization tours for Chinese cruise travel agencies.

Furthermore, with Shandong Port Group, both parties agreed to secure mutual cargo volumes that could be connected to Yeongilman Port, aiming to open a container shipping route.

In particular, Gao Bo, Director of the Qingdao Port Authority, suggested that the cooperation between Qingdao and Pohang, which began with the 2024 East Cup International Sailing Competition, should be expanded beyond ports to include culture, sports, and tourism, and that they should seek ways to formalize this cooperation through a memorandum of understanding.

Qingdao Cultural Tourism Bureau is taking a group commemorative photo after a meeting with Shandong Port Group.

Son Jungho, Director of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of Pohang City, said, "We will accelerate the development of Yeongilman Port's infrastructure to keep pace with the rapidly growing cruise market after the COVID-19 pandemic," adding, "We will seek collaborative projects with Qingdao City and Shandong Port Group in port logistics, the cruise industry, marine sports, and various other fields."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.