MOTC's Maritime and Port Bureau held the second "Your Cruise Career Awaits” Easy Go! campus promotional event for potential workers in the cruise industry on December 20 at National Taiwan Ocean University, where it assisted young students who are interested in pursuing a career in the cruise industry to follow their dreams.

       Yu-Mei Huang, manager of the Taiwan International Ports Corporation, first introduced development trends and new cruise-related job opportunities in Taiwan's cruise tourism market, and encouraged students to “enrich their lives” and move bravely into the future while working on a cruise ship. Chiang-Chuan Lu, a permanent consultant at International Cruise Council Taiwan, introduced to the audience the duties and professional skills required of a cruise ship jobs, igniting students' interest by adding comedy to his easy-to-understand introduction.

       Both business and the volume of cruise passengers in Asia have grown recently. Possessing its own geographic advantages, Taiwan has cruise lines operated out of ports in Keelung and Kaohsiung and is also the second largest tourism source market in Asia. Since international cruise lines are actively planning to expand in the Asian market, the demand for Chinese-speaking employees is high. Thus, Taiwan's high-quality tourism professionals have been the focus of recruitment by international cruise lines.

       The Maritime and Port Bureau stated that the regulations and procedures for professional training and for obtaining the Seaman Service Book have been loosened. Now, Taiwanese nationals need only participate in the basic training programs to apply for and obtain the Seaman Service Book and training certificate that allow them to find work on a cruise ship. In addition to those changes, ocean tourism and food and beverage departments at universities can now integrate training into their curriculum so that students can obtain certification during their studies. Internship opportunities are also increased by allowing short-term training exercises on cruise ships. Cruise companies are invited to recruit in advance from university campuses, so that students can begin employment immediately after graduation, which allows a seamless connection between industry and academia.