Taiwan is set to surpass the one-million passenger mark for the first time since 2019, as cruise traffic builds, thanks to more homeporting and additional ships sailing in the region, according to officials from the Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC).

Three hundred and four calls this year are split between 167 turnarounds and 137 transit visits, bringing an estimated 1,119,800 guests.

Keelung hosts the majority of these, with 225 calls and just over 925,000 passengers expected, followed by Kaohsiung, with 54 calls.

Keelung in the north serves as a gateway for cruises to Japan and South Korea, while Kaohsiung in the south provides a base for itineraries to Hong Kong, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Additional ports in the country include Hualien, Suao, Taichung, Anping and Penghu as Taiwan continues to focus on a multi-port deployment strategy.

Of note, Suao has a new cruise terminal ideally suited to luxury ships and Penghu is fresh off pier upgrades that were completed in 2024.

The cruise market is changing for Taiwan with a shift toward more transit calls and fewer homeports. This means that the country is seeing more international guests, led by American and German passengers, said a spokesperson.

Going forward, port officials want to continue to build up Kaohsiung as a strategic southern homeport option. The MSC Bellissima is already scheduled to sail from the port in 2026, heading to Okinawa and Ishigaki.

New for 2026 will be facial recognition and biometric clearance systems for Keelung and Kaohsiung, which will speed up clearance times. Both ports are also slated to get shore power system installations.

Helping to support growth, the TIPC has introduced tiered discounts on dockage and passenger service fees, tailored to frequency of calls, maiden calls, proportion of international passengers and long-term volume.

There are also incentives available to cruise operators for the length of a call and multi-Taiwan port cruises, plus other incentives targeted at cruise lines promoting fly-cruise programs out of Taiwan.