More tourists visit S.Korea on cruise ships

The number of foreign cruise passengers visiting S.Korea nearly doubled in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Monday.

Some 720,000 tourists visited S.Korea on cruise ships from January to June this year. That's an 88 percent increase from the 385,000 recorded in the same period in 2015.

The ministry estimates some 1.5 million people on nearly 850 cruise ships will visit Korea by the end of the year, and expects the number to surpass two million in 2017.

Ministry officials project cruise passengers will spend an expected US$1.3 billion this year and $1.9 billion in 2017 at main ports including Busan, Incheon and Jeju.

(THE CHOSUNILBO)