Twenty Korean nationals boarded the Adora Mediterranea in Incheon in July, and entered China via Tianjin cruise. toured Beijing and Tianjin, before departing China by air from Beijing Airport.

The first addition of the new cross-border travel corridor, demonstrated by the 20 Korean passengers, took place on a existing roundtrip sailing from Tianjin International Cruise Homeport to Incheon and Jeju.

The majority of the ship’s passengers were Chinese guests on a standard round-trip itinerary out of Tianjin, while the 20 Korean passengers followed different arrangements.

They embarked at Incheon, traveled with the vessel to Tianjin, and entered mainland China through the cruise terminal under applicable visa-free or visa-on-arrival arrangements.

The test program required coordinated clearance procedures between Tianjin port customs, border inspection and immigration authorities to allow a seamless transition from maritime entry to air exit.

The program could potentially be a template for attracting more regional travelers from South Korea, Japan and eventually Southeast Asia to visit China via a combined cruise-and-fly package.

Tianjin port authorities confirmed that year-to-date through mid-July, the port has handled nearly 80 cruise calls and processed over 100,000 passengers.