Dalian set to be key cruise liner port

The annual passenger throughput of the Dalian Port International Cruise Liner Center is expected to reach 200,000 in three years, a senior manager said on Wednesday.

Royal Caribbean International's Legend of the Seas cruise ship carrying about 2,000 tourists left Dalian for Sasebo and Kagoshima in Japan on Wednesday, meaning that Dalian is now a port of departure for international cruise liners.

"With the opening of the Dalian Port International Cruise Ship Center, tourists from Northeast China will take cruises from Dalian," said Zhang Tie, general manager of the passenger transport company Dalian Port Group.