International visitors flock to Vietnam by ship
Since the beginning of 2024, the cruise ship market has flourished with a series of cruise ships carrying thousands of international tourists docking at ports in Nha Trang, Da Nang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Quang Ninh, and Hue. A report by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism shows that in the first two months of 2024, the tourism industry welcomed 90.7 thousand international visitors to Vietnam by cruise ship, a 7-fold increase over the same period last year.
In Quang Ninh, international cruise ships have been continuously bringing thousands of tourists to Ha Long. It is expected that in 2024, there will be about 60 super yachts with 80,000 international tourists registered to dock at Ha Long port.
Similarly, Phu Quoc continuously welcomes cruise ships and super yachts carrying many luxury guests to visit, have fun and shop on the pearl island.
Specifically, on February 2, Phu Quoc welcomed the 5-star cruise ship Costa Serena carrying about 1,100 international tourists to visit the pearl island. Then, on February 9, Phu Quoc welcomed the cruise ship Aida Bella carrying nearly 2,000 European tourists to visit Phu Quoc National Park.
According to information from the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism, from the beginning of 2024 until now, Nha Trang Bay (Khanh Hoa) has welcomed 10 cruise ships bringing more than 20,750 visitors. It is expected that in 2024, there will be about 43 international cruise ships choosing Nha Trang Bay as a destination to bring tourists ashore for sightseeing and enjoyment.
General Director of Saigontourist Travel Service Company Nguyen Thanh Luu said that in the first 2 months of 2024 alone, the company successfully served more than 10 international cruise ships carrying more than 30,000 international visitors to Vietnam, an increase of 15% over the same period in 2023. It is expected that in 2024, the number of international visitors to Vietnam by cruise ship will increase by 10-15% compared to 2023.
Explaining the reason why the tourism industry welcomes a large number of international tourists to Vietnam by ship, Director of the Vietnam Institute for Tourism Development Research Nguyen Anh Tuan said that our country has a favorable geographical position on the region's maritime traffic route, owns a 3,260km long coastline, more than 4,000 islands... these are the conditions to become the cruise tourism center of Asia.
Vietnam's famous coastal tourist areas such as Ha Long - Cat Ba, Son Tra - Hoi An, Nha Trang - Cam Ranh, Phan Thiet - Mui Ne, Phu Quoc... are all capable of competing with coastal tourist areas in the region and Asia to attract cruise ship tourists. "Marine tourism has developed rapidly in recent times, becoming one of the strongest developing types, contributing to promoting the development of Vietnamese tourism and raising the brand in the international market" - Mr. Tuan said.
Much work to do
Although Vietnam has many advantages to develop this type of tourism, port infrastructure, human resources are lacking and weak, and there is a lack of high-quality shopping facilities to serve those with high spending ability.
According to AZA Travel Director Nguyen Tien Dat, cruise ship passengers currently spend about 100 USD/person for their time on shore. However, Vietnam's shopping malls are currently only average compared to other countries in the region, not attractive enough to the high-spending international tourist segment.
"If visitors only walk around a few times, watch water puppetry, buy some souvenirs and then go home, the tourism and trade sectors will miss out on revenue from this source of visitors. Therefore, in the coming time, the industry and trade sector should step up attracting investment capital to build and upgrade supermarket systems into hypermarkets," Mr. Dat suggested.
Similarly, Lux Group Chairman Pham Ha shared that currently, most of Vietnam's seaport system mainly serves the import and export of goods, leading to passenger ships having to give way to cargo ships, thus failing to meet the requirements of high-class passenger reception services. In addition, services such as dining, shopping, entertainment, etc. have not yet met the diverse needs of customers.
To exploit and professionally develop this type of tourism, tourism experts say that localities need to assess the potential for developing cruise tourism, from which to have appropriate investment strategies, from seaport infrastructure, services, attractions, and tours.
Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said that local authorities should expand the concept of cruise tourism products towards sustainable development. Specifically, strongly develop domestic and international ports, organize many beach resorts with good infrastructure, thereby attracting tourists to Vietnam by cruise many times instead of one-time trips. Moreover, it is necessary to form coastal tourism routes to create new products for tourism in each locality.
“To do this, the tourism industry needs to have a plan to develop cruise tourism. In addition, it is necessary to select strategic, large-scale investors to build high-end entertainment and shopping centers, so that visitors do not “bring money here and then take it back” - Mr. Binh emphasized.
From the perspective of a tourism business, Director of Hanoitourist Travel Company Le Hong Thai said that relevant agencies also need to have a flexible visa policy. Specifically, improving entry and exit procedures for cruise tourists in the direction of issuing collective visas to all tourists, thereby minimizing administrative procedures and avoiding causing inconvenience to customers.
Thus, to develop cruise tourism requires state management agencies and businesses to develop a comprehensive strategy and propose policies to more effectively exploit the "gold mine" of this type of tourism.
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