The “2025 Berth Allocation in Cruise Ports” report, released by Jeju on December 9, outlines the schedule for 344 cruise arrivals in the coming year. The Jeju Coastal Ferry Terminal is set to accommodate 166 of these ships, while the Seogwipo Gangjeong Cruise Terminal will handle the remaining 178. These docking schedules are determined by the cruise companies that include Jeju as part of their itineraries. Large vessels, weighing over 100,000 tons, will dock at Gangjeong Port, while smaller ships will arrive at Jeju Port.
Jeju Island’s cruise tourism recovery is closely tied to the return of Chinese group tours. The island saw steady growth in cruise passenger numbers, rising from 590,400 in 2014 to 622,068 in 2015, and reaching a peak of 1,209,106 in 2016. However, a sharp decline followed in 2017 when China imposed a ban on group tours to South Korea in response to the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. As a result, the number of cruise visitors plummeted to just 189,732 in 2017, and further dropped to only 21,703 in 2018.
The sector showed some signs of recovery in 2019 with 44,266 passengers, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought the industry to a halt. From 2020 to 2022, no cruise ships arrived in Jeju.
A recovery began in 2023 when China lifted its ban on group tours to South Korea. By the end of 2022, Jeju had welcomed 100,661 cruise passengers. As of November 2024, the island had already seen 622,958 visitors, with Chinese tourists making up the largest share at 484,409, followed by 53,668 visitors from Japan.
Tags: 2025 Cruise Season, cruise arrivals, cruise tourism, international cruise ships, Jeju cruise ports South Korea tourism, Jeju Island
