Tourists who visited Jeju Island on cruises have spent W9.6 billion in the island so far this year. According to Jeju Customs on Wednesday, cruise ships made 37 visits to the island this year, carrying 38,150 tourists, up 27 percent from 29,927 last year.

They spent W8.85 billion (US$1=W1,195) on travel in Jeju, and W690 million for port use fee. Each tourist spent on average W250,000.

Chinese made up 66 percent of visitors, and Americans and Japanese followed with 5 and 4 percent. Tourists from other countries made up the remainder. Cruise ships are expected to visit Jeju Island 52 times next year, with some 57,000 passengers aboard.