On the morning of June 17th, the press conference and launch ceremony for the “Via Shandong to South Korea: Sailing by Sea” all-transportation promotion campaign for travel to South Korea was successfully held at the St. Regis Hotel in Qingdao. More than 50 people, including leaders from the Korea Tourism Organization, representatives from five Sino-Korean ferry companies in Shandong Province, and media reporters, gathered to discuss the development of maritime cultural tourism cooperation between Shandong and South Korea, officially kicking off a new round of ferry tourism promotion to South Korea.
Shandong and South Korea are separated only by sea and are geographically adjacent, with a long history of maritime exchanges between the two regions. Shandong boasts eight ferry routes between China and South Korea, accounting for over 70% of the total seat supply for these routes. Furthermore, as a pilot area for the liberalization of air transport between China and South Korea, Shandong’s air transport capacity ranks among the top in the country, making it a core transportation hub connecting the tourism markets of China and South Korea. Leveraging this geographical and transportation advantage, this event aims to streamline cross-border travel, revitalize the ferry tourism market, enrich cultural and tourism travel experiences, and facilitate tourists from all over China to travel to South Korea via sea routes through Shandong.
In his address, Park Sung-hyuk, Director General of the Korea Tourism Organization, introduced the overall plan for attracting Chinese tourists and deepening bilateral exchanges and cooperation, taking into account the current development trends of the cultural and tourism industries in China and South Korea. Following this, a representative from the Korea Tourism Organization’s Shandong office gave a detailed presentation on this joint travel event, comprehensively introducing the layout, features, and travel advantages of the promotional activities, with a particular emphasis on the brand collaboration with the Alipay platform to create a special section for young people traveling to Korea!
Notably, the Korea Tourism Organization, together with five Chinese and South Korean ferry companies including Shandong COSCO Shipping Group and Weihai Weidong Shipping, jointly signed a memorandum of understanding on expanding cooperation in the ferry tourism market for Chinese tourists visiting South Korea via Shandong. The parties will integrate high-quality resources, collaborate on innovation and transformation, deeply explore the development potential of ferry tourism, and promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional shipping services to high-end and distinctive cultural tourism services. Following the signing, representatives from all parties participated in the project launch ceremony, marking the official commencement of a joint promotional campaign for eight ferry routes from Shandong to South Korea.
According to on-site information, the preferential policies and featured tourism products accompanying this event will be fully launched on June 18th. Compared to other modes of transportation, ferries offer advantages such as large passenger capacity, high cost-effectiveness, and comprehensive onboard leisure facilities, making boat travel itself a unique travel experience. In the future, the two parties will also combine current travel trends to create diverse business formats such as slow travel, cycling tours, and pet-friendly tours, and launch customized tourism products for different customer groups. Simultaneously, they will leverage the passenger base in third- and fourth-tier cities across China to create a comprehensive intermodal transportation model connecting inland China, Shandong, and South Korea.
This event marks a significant milestone in the deep integration of transportation and cultural tourism between Shandong and South Korea. Using air routes as a link and cultural tourism as a bridge, both sides will continue to optimize travel services, enrich tourism products, and intensify market promotion to further enhance the convenience and experience of cross-border travel. It is believed that this cooperation will revitalize the Shandong-South Korea tourism model, continuously promoting the joint development and mutual benefit of the cultural tourism industries in both regions.
