Hanoi (VNA) - Boasting a 3,000-km coastline with beautiful scenery, friendly people and diversified culture, Viet Nam is fast becoming an attractive destination for international cruise ships.
Cruise liners have been increasingly visiting central Da Nang city, northern Quang Ninh province and Ho Chi Minh City in recent months, with the latest being the Super Star Gemini with 800 tourists aboard anchoring at Da Nang ’s Tien Sa Port on July 14.
Statistics released by the Da Nang Culture, Sports and Tourism Department showed that in the first six months of this year, Vietnam’s most beautiful central coastal city welcomed 31 cruise liners, with more than 20,000 tourists.
The figure represented an 18-percent year-on-year increase from the same period last year and it is expected to increase by 10 later this year.
Quang Ninh province – home to the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site of Ha Long Bay – also reported a rise of more than 11 percent in the number of cruise tourists to 74,000 in the first half-year.
Additionally, the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City saw 21,000 cruise tourists in the period. Tourism experts say while the figure remains modest it represents a year-on-year surge of 40 percent, the highest level in recent three years.
Saigontourist, the leading travel business in luring sea travellers, welcomed 57,000 cruise tourists in the first half of this year, chalking an impressive rise of 94 percent.
The firm said it is expected to double the number of visitors from international cruise liners to 100,000 this year.
During a conference on sea tourism held in Vietnam late last year, the French-based Fashion TV representative Uzi Garty said in the future, sea travel will further develop in Vietnam as the Southeast Asian country has so many advantages to promote this type of tourism.
The advantages, according to Garty and other representatives from foreign cruise ships, include a 3,000-km coastline with thousands of islands and beautiful scenery. In addition, Vietnam is located on the route between the two regional sea tourism centres of Singapore and Hong Kong .
However, tourism experts said, much remains to be done to achieve the target of receiving 1 million liner tourists by 2015.
They said that sea travellers are making up a small proportion in the total number of foreign tourists to Vietnam , citing unprofessional services and shortage of means of transportation and ports as factors hindering the development of sea tourism.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said in an effort to push up sea tourism, it is promoting ties with the world’s large ship liners, boosting market research, and mapping out a master plan on the country’s well-known sea tourism sites. It is also proposing the government consider visa exemption for sea tourists.-Enditem
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