Pyeongtaekhang Port: A Pleasant Port of Call for Cruise Ships
(Published October 17, 2011)

– The Pacific Venus, which left Kobe Port, entered Pyeongtaekhang Port.
– 570 tourists visited Gyeonggi Province after stopping in China and stayed until October 17th while taking a tour of Suwon.

– A luxurious cruise ship, which left Kobe Port with 570 Japanese tourists on October 10, entered Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi Province on October 16th after visiting the ports of Tianjin and Dalian in China. The tourists returned to Kobe Port on October 17th after taking a tour of the Korean Folk Village and other sites.Hwang Jun-gi, President of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, presents flowers to the first Japanese tourist to disembark.(GNews Plus)

Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Toursm Organization announced that they developed a cruise tour package in which Pyeongtae Port will become a port of call for the first time. This cruise ship package is made up of a 10-day schedule that ran from October 10 to 19. The cruise ship, which left Kobe Port with 570 Japanese tourists, entered Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi Province on October 16th after visiting the ports of Tianjin and Dalian in China. The participants will return to Kobe Port after taking a tour of Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, the Korean Folk Village, and other sites.

“It is my first chanve to appreciate a farmer band performance on a ship. It was wonderful,” said a Japanese tourist from Kyoto who saw the performance on October 16th. They then added, “I was able to feel Korea’s energy.”

“I would like to visit Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon after watching the Korean drama series ‘Yi San.’ So this was a wonderful chance for me,” said a Japanese tourist from Osaka on October 17th. “I did not know that Gyeonggi Province is not far away from Japan and that it has various interesting things. I want to visit this place again.”

This is the first time that the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization developed a cruise tourism package connected to Pyeongtaek Port. The province effectively used marketing strategies to target the southwestern area of Japan, which suffered relatively less than other areas from the earthquake. The cruise ship is the 26,594-ton Pacific Venus, which belongs to a cruise tour company in Osaka. The ship has cabins for 644 people, an outdoor swimming pool, a luxurious restaurant, a café, a lounge, a bar, and a sauna.

“We expanded the route of the cruise ship into Gyeonggi Province and developed a high value-added tourist package,” President Hwang said. “We will endeavor to increase tourism to Gyeonggi Province by developing excellent tourist packages on the foundation of various tourist attractions in Gyeonggi Province such as the DMZ, Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, and the Korea Folk Village.”

-GNews Plus News | Roh Soon-ik rohsoon45@naver.com

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201110171120487055C049&s_code=C049