Oceans minister promotes cruise industry

Oceans and Fisheries Minister Yoo Ki-june will visit Shanghai on Wednesday to host a sales and marketing event targeting Chinese travel agencies and port operators to attract more Chinese cruise travelers to Korea.

“During the three-day visit, the minister will also make a presentation on policy changes and efforts for the nation’s cruise industry development in details,” said Kim Sang-ki from the marine policy department at the ministry.

According to the ministry, it is the first time for the South Korean marine minister to go abroad to talk with and hear from prospective clients overseas.

“The event was planned as the first follow-up of the ministry’s road map to revitalize the cruise industry,” Kim said.

Under the road map announced on May 7, the veteran politician, who was inaugurated as maritime minister in March, set a goal to triple the number of cruise travelers via Korean ports to 3 million by 2020 from the current 1.05 million.

For this aim, the minister vowed to cultivate more local cruise operators, which will bolster the tourism industry and create new service sector jobs. 

The ministry has a plan to issue business licenses to local cruise operators within the year and see them launch their pilot services early next year.

Industry sources said several local shipping companies and casino operators like Grand Korea Leisure have already expressed interest in entering the cruise business.

Despite the ministry’s strong and consistent drive, the cruise business faces a stumbling block ― opposition against running an “open” casino inside a local cruise ship. Open casinos are casinos open not only to foreigners but also to Korean nationals.

Under the law, Koreans are banned from all domestic casinos except Kangwon Land in Gangwon Province.

Minister Yoo said he would seek a bill to allow local cruise operators to run open casinos to compete with foreign rivals.

“Onboard gambling has long been considered part of the recreational facilities for cruise travelers,” Yoo said.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which issues casino business licenses, however, put a brake on the marine minister’s swift move, saying that nothing has been discussed on allowing Koreans access to onboard gambling.

“It will take considerable time to draw a public consensus on an open casino for cruise ships,” a Culture Ministry official said.

“The Culture Ministry’s cautious response is because it is worried about the impact of open-type onboard casinos on an integrated resort business, including a foreigners-only casino,” an industry insider said on condition of anonymity.

The Culture Ministry plans to select two more integrated-resort business operators by year-end after it issued the first license to LOCZ Korea, a Chinese-U.S. consortium of Lippo and Caesars Entertainment. LOCZ Korea said last month that it would open a foreigners-only casino-driven resort complex by 2018 in Midan City on Yeongjongdo Island.

“When the Cultural Ministry allows a local cruise ship to run an open casino, integrated-resort operators will also call for the equal treatment,” the insider said.

By Seo Jee-yeon  (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)