VLADIVOSTOK, November 18. /TASS/. In 2017, cruise ships belonging to Costa Group Asia will visit the port of Vladivostok in the Primorye region six times, the regional authorities said on Friday. The first Costa Group Asia cruise ship visited the port this year.
“Developing cruise travel is one of the strategic priorities as far as the regional tourism industry is concerned,” head of the Primorye Tourism Department Konstantin Shestakov said following the recent China International Travel Mart in Shanghai. “We have held several meetings, global cruise companies seem to be interested in including Vladivostok into their routes. Costa Group Asia has confirmed that in 2017, its cruise ships will visit the port of Vladivostok six times,” Shestakov added.
A multi-decked Costa Victoria cruise ship, carrying 2,000 passengers, visited Vladivostok this past May, the tourists were very much impressed by the city tour so now this kind of visits may become regular, the city administration said.
In August, a Chinese cruise ship Chinese Taishan visited the port for the first time, its operating company now considers the opportunity to include Vladivostok in its cruise routes. Next year foreign cruise ships are expected to visit Primorye almost every month. A regular cruise service connecting Primorye, Japan and South Korea is planned to be put into operation in February 2017.