French luxury cruise ship Le Lapérouse carrying 88 foreign tourists arrives in HCM City’s Saigon Port on October 2. (Photo: sggpnews.org.vn) Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the HCMCity Department of Tourism, said the city aims to become a new and attractivedestination for international cruise ship travellers as they are a major sourceof visitors to the city.
The city is expected to receive several largecruise ships carrying between 200 and 300 guests by the end of the year, hesaid.
To welcome them, the city’s tourism sector hasfocused on improving catering, entertainment, and shopping services, he added.
The department is also working with travelagents, shipping firms, and ports to ensure the best services, includingnighttime tourism activities, during their stay in the city, he added.
“The ultimate goal is to ensure the safety andsatisfaction of the tourists,” he said.
The city would need to upgrade seaports to beable to receive larger cruise vessels, he noted.
Some seaports able to receive large cruisevessels in the country include the seaport in Phu Quoc (Kien Giang province),Phu My seaport (Ba Ria-Vung Tau province), and Nha Trang seaport (Khanh Hoa province).
On October 2, French luxury cruise ship LeLapérouse carrying 88 foreign tourists arrived in HCM City’s Saigon Port tobecome the first international cruise line to arrive in Vietnam after two yearsof disruption due to the pandemic
The travellers come from the US, France,Germany, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand.
During their stay in HCM City, the passengerstook part in a city tour, go shopping, and experience catering andentertainment services.
Earlier, the ship arrived in Ben Dam Port in BaRia-Vung Tau province, allowing passengers to visit tourist destinations in theCon Dao Islands.
The ship left the city on October 5 for NhaTrang, Quy Nhon, Da Nang, Hue and other destinations.
Potential
According to cruise tourism companies, Vietnamis expected to receive a number of international cruise lines by the end of theyear during the peak travel season.
Nguyen Huu Y Yen, General Director ofSaigontourist, said the company would start receiving international touristsfrom cruise ships from early December.
As scheduled, three ships of the Royal CaribbeanCruise Line will enter the country each month.
These ships, mainly transporting American andEuropean travellers, will arrive in HCM City, Da Nang and Ha Long Bay fromDecember until the end of 2024.
In recent years, the city has become a popular destinationfor major international shipping lines such as Royal Caribbean Cruise Group,Princess Cruises, Costa Cruises and Viking Cruises.
Major companies exploiting the cruise tourism marketinclude Saigontourist, Tan Hong Travel Co. Ltd, Destination Asia, and others.
In HCM City, tourists can join in half-day orfull-day tours to famous tourist attractions such as the History Museum of HCMCity, War Remnants Museum, Ben Thanh Market, Can Gio mangrove ecologicalforest, Cu Chi tunnel, and customised tours.
HCM City has implemented electronic visa(e-visa) for foreign tourists at seaports.
The application process is made easy as touristscan go online, fill out the application form, pay online and get the approvalletter.
The peak season for cruise visitors is fromNovember to April (winter).
Besides upgrading seaport infrastructure, Vietnamshould improve its cruise tourism promotion as most international touriststhink of other countries such as Brazil, Russia, Thailand and Singapore insteadof Vietnam, experts said.
Vietnam received more than 1.44 millioninternational arrivals in the first eight months of 2022, a 13.7-fold rise froma year earlier when the border was still closed, according to a report by theGeneral Statistics Office.
Of the international arrivals, 88.2% came to Vietnamby air, up 18.5 times, while 11.8% by road and only 0.03% by sea, said thereport./.
VNA
