TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The proportion of foreign cruise travelers landing in Taiwan in 2024 reached 35%, more than before the COVID-19 pandemic, reports said Friday.

Of the 900,000 cruise visitors recorded during the year, 316,000 came from overseas, according to Taiwan International Ports Corporation. During 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, the country welcomed 1.05 million cruise travelers, with 31.6% foreigners.

According to company data, 12.2% of foreign cruise visitors in 2024 were Japanese, 6.7% came from the United States, 3% from Germany, and 2.5% from South Korea, per CNA. Keelung received 266,000 of the foreign visitors arriving by cruise ship, breaking the record of 257,000 set in 2018. Kaohsiung came second last year with 35,000 foreign cruise visitors.

Cruise trips between Keelung and Naha in Okinawa helped promote visits by Japanese tourists, while South Korea was the most rapidly growing source for cruises. South Korean tour operators chartered a cruise ship to take clients to Taiwan in a move that is likely to be repeated in 2025, according to Taiwan International Ports Corporation.

The company is expecting the number of visiting cruise ships to rise from 414 last year to 572 next year. The ships will bring 980,000 visitors to Taiwan, according to estimates.