Chinese tourists disembark from a cruise ship docked in the port of Nagasaki in January 2018. | KYODO
Arrivals of foreign-operated cruise ships to Japan are set to return to levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic when their operations resume in March after experiencing a three-year hiatus, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday.
Out of 42 major ports, a total of 89 arrivals are scheduled in March at 23 points of entry across 22 prefectures, while discussions by local governments and ship operators are progressing for arrivals at other ports, the survey showed. Before the pandemic in March 2019, Japan saw 125 dockings at the 42 ports.
Out of 2.15 million people who visited Japan on cruise ships in 2019, 80% were from China. Those visitors from around the world spent ¥80.5 billion ($590 million) during their stay, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.
The Kyodo News surveyed 42 ports across 32 prefectures that received large cruise ships in 2019.
Japan suspended the docking of foreign cruise ships in March 2020 following a mass COVID-19 outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise Liner. Thousands of passengers and crew were quarantined on the ship in Yokohama in February 2020. Of the 700 people infected, 13 died.
Port calls of overseas cruise ships will resume starting with the port of Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on March 1.
Out of the 23 ports scheduled to receive cruise ships in March, the city of Kagoshima will see the most dockings at 11, followed by nine each in the cities of Kobe and Naha, the survey showed.
Yokohama, near Tokyo, is set to receive eight arrivals while Kochi, on the island of Shikoku, will receive seven.
The port of Osaka said in the survey it has plans to receive several cruise ships but declined to specify the number, citing ongoing discussions with related parties. The port facility recorded seven dockings of foreign cruise ships in March 2019.
The ports of Nagoya, Takamatsu, Hakata and Nagasaki also declined to give the number for similar reasons.
The Japanese government has urged local municipalities to discuss and reach agreements with ship operators and local health and customs authorities over how to respond to coronavirus infections.
Of the 23 ports scheduled to accept foreign ships, 16 have or are nearing such agreements, while seven are still in discussions.
Source: japan times
