Identifying inland waterway tourism as one of the unique products, the city has issued projects and plans for the development of this field for many years. However, up to now, inland waterway tourism has not been exploited commensurate with its potential and inherent advantages.
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| Tourists enjoy capturing images of the Han River Bridge while taking a boat to see Da Nang at night. Photo: NGOC HA |
Untapped potential
Two inland waterway tourism routes are currently exploited, including the Han River - Tran Thi Ly Bridge route and the CT15 - Hon Sup - Bai Nam - Bai Da route. Both routes attract a large number of tourists.
According to statistics in 2024, the number of inland waterway tourists reached 939,675, an increase of 13.4% over the same period in 2023. With the Han River - Tran Thi Ly Bridge route, ships departing from the Han River area (in front of Novotel Hotel, Bach Dang Street) slowly take tourists to see the city at night.
During about 1 hour, visitors can enjoy the modern beauty of the riverside buildings, listen to explanations about the bridges connecting the two banks of the Han River such as the Han River Bridge, Dragon Bridge, Nguyen Van Troi Bridge, Tran Thi Ly Bridge, watch the Dragon Bridge breathe fire and water on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. At the same time, enjoy traditional art performances such as Cham dance, contemporary dance and culinary experiences...
Meanwhile, the inland waterway tourism route CT15 - Hon Sup - Bai Nam - Bai Da takes visitors to beautiful destinations in Son Tra peninsula. Currently, this route is operated by 3 businesses including Aphodite cruise ship of Viet AnGroup and 2 other high-speed boat companies including Le Hung and Sao Bien Xanh.
According to many opinions, inland waterway products are still not commensurate with the potential of the city "at the beginning of the sea, at the end of the river". According to Mr. Dang Hoa, owner of the Han Giang tourist boat, the city is exploiting a short section of the river while there is a lot of room and tourism products on rivers and seas. The city has issued a project to develop inland waterway tourism in Da Nang city until 2030, with a vision to 2045; announced many inland waterway passenger transport routes in the city, but so far the implementation has been slow. Mr. Hoa said that the city needs to soon clear the Co Co River to deploy a cultural, historical and spiritual tourism route to Quan The Am Pagoda and Ngu Hanh Son scenic spot.
Sharing the same view, General Director of Viet An Group Corporation Nguyen Thanh Tam said that the functional sectors need to quickly complete the mechanism, policies, support and call for investment in waterway tourism products. Specifically, expanding the CT15 wharf route to Hon Sup - Bai Nam - Bai Da and having a mechanism to call for investment in destinations on the route to increase tourism products, soon meeting the needs and tastes of customers... In particular, the city needs to soon plan, delimit and allow the organization of water entertainment activities, swimming, diving to enhance the experience for tourists.
When will the new routes be launched?
The Da Nang City Tourism Development Plan for 2024 issued by the City People's Committee on December 20, 2023 identifies the development of inland waterway tourism as one of the key tasks. On that basis, on April 16, 2024, the City People's Committee issued Plan No. 95/KH-UBND to implement the project of developing inland waterway tourism in Da Nang City for the period 2024-2025. According to the plan, inland waterway tourism activities focus on 4 main routes in the direction of feasible organization of activities and services during the day/night, including: Han River - Tran Thi Ly; Han River - Co Co; CT15 - Hon Sup, Bai Nam, Bai Da; route from shore to island: Da Nang - Cu Lao Cham (after being permitted); at the same time, connecting and implementing the Han River - Da Nang Bay route soon.
According to the Department of Tourism, in 2025, relevant departments, agencies and sectors will continue to implement the plan to develop inland waterway tourism. In particular, speeding up the progress of completing the construction of auxiliary works at the Quan The Am pagoda wharf area (X6); speeding up the project to soon clear the Co Co river connecting with Quang Nam to effectively exploit the Han river route to Ngu Hanh Son connecting with Hoi An - Quang Nam; proposing solutions to exploit the wharf west of Nguyen Van Troi bridge (Y7) to serve waterway tourism.
At the same time, continue to call for investment in building the Han River Port (Y6) and the Han River Cruise Port area (Y5) into a large-scale specialized tourist port associated with ancillary service complexes along the Bach Dang - Nhu Nguyet route according to the Da Nang City Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050; call for investment in Sung Co and Ma Da to connect and develop waterway tourism.
In addition, the relevant agencies shall carry out the contents related to investment and construction of inland waterway ports according to the planning locations in the Da Nang Bay area (Sung Co beach area, Ma Da beach area...) and consider allowing calling for and attracting investment in floating pontoon bridges at suitable locations in the Son Cha island area to serve recreational and entertainment activities on the route; calling on organizations, businesses and individuals to invest in high-speed boat fleets with large tonnage, ensuring the operation of waterways from shore to island: Da Nang - Cu Lao Cham and Da Nang - Ly Son routes, proposing to expand and exploit the inland waterway route of Son Tra peninsula.
The functional sectors have gradually implemented the project of Developing inland waterway tourism in Da Nang city until 2030, with a vision to 2045, with the overall goal of building and developing inland waterway tourism to become one of the centers of infrastructure and tourist boat services in the country.
NGOC HA
Source: http://baodanang.vn/kinhte/202502/can-day-nhanh-phat-trien-du-lich-duong-thuy-4001284/
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