Cruise Line PONANT to More Than Triple Port Calls at the Port of Busan by 2030

[Financial News] PONANT, the global luxury cruise line, has decided to more than triple the number of sailings at the Port of Busan by 2030 compared with this year, its first year of trial operations.
BPA said on the 31st that it recently visited PONANT's headquarters in Marseille, France. PONANT has confirmed plans to expand its Busan homeport service from four sailings this year to six next year and nine in 2028. By 2030, it aims to more than triple the number of sailings from this year's level.
The Busan homeport products for next year and the year after are already on sale on PONANT's website. The country's first Fly·Rail&Cruise service, launched this year with PONANT, allows foreign tourists to enter through Incheon International Airport, tour Seoul, travel to Busan by KTX-Sancheon, and then board a cruise at the Port of Busan. The program links Seoul and Busan into a single cruise itinerary, suggesting that Busan's homeport service is evolving beyond a one-off operation into a long-term cruise product.
BPA and PONANT also proposed detailed cooperation measures to improve not only the number of sailings but also passenger convenience for embarkation and disembarkation, as well as tourism satisfaction. The two sides signed an MOU to continue pursuing these efforts. They plan to keep improving boarding and disembarkation procedures and terminal convenience, while also developing experiential tourism content unique to Busan to strengthen the competitiveness of the city's homeport service.
Cooperation with Royal Caribbean Group will also be expanded. Silversea, the group's flagship luxury brand, plans to more than double its Port of Busan calls from 11 this year to 26 next year. It will also introduce three overnight Busan itineraries next year, after having none this year. The two sides agreed to raise convenience and service standards across the entire journey, from embarkation and disembarkation to terminal use and sightseeing, in line with the needs of luxury cruise passengers. They will also share and address step-by-step improvement tasks needed to expand overnight services and eventually begin homeport operations.
In particular, Silversea said that if Busan, with its wide range of tourism resources, secures enough time for visitors to stay rather than limiting them to a one-day schedule, it could create a more diverse range of cruise tourism products. In response, BPA plans to expand Silversea's overnight operations based on the Port of Busan's 24-hour operating environment. It also intends to support cruise itineraries that allow sufficient time on shore, further enhancing the port's competitiveness in stay-oriented cruises.
Silversea also said that linking Busan's key tourist attractions with the historical and cultural resources of Gyeongsangnam-do and North Gyeongsang Province would help diversify pre-boarding and post-disembarkation tourism products for homeport cruises, greatly strengthening the Port of Busan's competitiveness as a homeport. Based on this, BPA plans to work with relevant agencies to connect tourism resources in Busan and nearby regions, broadening cruise passengers' movement and stay areas across the wider region.
Song Sang-geun, president of BPA, said, "The fact that PONANT's Busan homeport service will continue through 2030, and that its operations will also expand, shows in the real market that the Port of Busan has the potential to grow beyond a one-time port of call into a departure and arrival point for cruise travel."

[email protected] Baek Chang-hoon Reporter