The number of cruise tourists visiting Port Keelung (Taiwan) is expected to exceed 1 million in 2020. The state-run seaport management company Taiwan International Port Corp made the announcement on July 16, 2019, as Majestic Princess returned from her final cruise for 2019 to her homeport Keelung.
Company's Keelung branch said that the cruise liner served a total of 217,236 passengers since April 15, marking 8.4% increase compared with the same period in 2018. The cruise operator has estimated that its number of cruisers would increase by 90,000 in 2020.
As Majestic Princess ended her season, Sun Princess starts turnaround operations from Sunday, July 21, to the 2nd half of September.
According to Taiwan International Port Corp statistics, the number of cruise passengers visiting Keelung has risen from around 560,000 in 2015 to a total of 660,000 in 2016, 820,000 in 2017 and 940,000 in 2018.
The number of cruise passengers could reach between 930,000-950,000 in 2019, the port company said, adding they would contribute up to NT$5 billion (US$160.9 million) to the economy of the city. It added that the number of cruise passengers could potentially exceed 1 million.