'Let's stay the night in Busan': Cruise tourism shifts from stopovers to overnight stays

Cruise tourism at Busan Port is expanding beyond brief stopovers into extended overnight stays, with eight overnight cruise calls recorded this year. Of the 5,901 passengers aboard, 1,470 stayed in Busan past 10 p.m. to explore the city.

The Busan Port Authority (BPA) announced Monday that the Azamara Pursuit, which arrived Thursday, completed the eighth and final overnight cruise call at Busan Port this year.

Overnight cruises stay at Busan Port for at least one night, allowing passengers to tour the city well into the late hours. This year saw a string of overnight calls from global luxury lines, including Oceania Cruises, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Ponant, Seabourn, The World and Azamara.

On Sept. 18, The World — on a two-night, three-day itinerary — and the Diamond Princess — on a one-night, two-day schedule — were berthed at Busan Port at the same time. About 470 passengers from the two ships enjoyed Busan's nighttime attractions, with the last guests returning to their vessels at 1:30 a.m.

Many luxury cruise lines had long requested extended one- or two-night stays to give passengers more time to explore Busan. The BPA worked with customs, immigration and quarantine agencies to extend cruise terminal operating hours and establish a system allowing passengers to use the terminal at night.

Of the 5,901 passengers on this year's overnight cruises, 1,470 remained in Busan past 10 p.m. The BPA said the results confirmed the viability of an overnight cruise model that links longer port stays to local tourism spending.

The BPA plans to attract more overnight calls. Next year, luxury lines including Azamara, Ponant, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Silversea have about 10 overnight calls scheduled.

Silversea, which had no overnight calls at Busan Port this year, will join the lineup for the first time. Through targeted marketing campaigns in the United States and Europe last August, the BPA secured three overnight calls from the line — two by the Silver Cloud and one by the Silver Muse.

The BPA has set a target of 20 or more overnight cruise calls per year at Busan Port by 2030. The plan envisions gradually increasing passengers' time in the city and developing overnight calls into semi-homeport and homeport arrangements.

"The biggest driving force behind successfully operating eight overnight cruise calls at Busan Port this year was the active cooperation of customs, immigration and quarantine agencies," BPA President Song Sang-geun said. "That close collaborative framework is a key competitive advantage that allows global cruise lines and customers to trust Busan Port."