HO CHI MINH CITY, 25 March 2019: Vietnam’s needs to urgently upgrade its cruise port facilities to end the practice of ships berthing at unattractive container ports, or it will continue to lag behind other cruise destinations in Asia.
Comments on port facilities for cruise ships was posted by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism sourced from Vietnan News Agency.
The report released at the weekend quoted Saigontourist Travel Service saying it handled 47,000 cruise travellers, and that was a respectable 12% growth compared with 2017.
According to the VNA report during the first two months of this year, the company welcomed 3,500 Chinese visitors from Hong Kong who came on a World Dream Cruise Ship, and more than 11,500 travellers from Hong Kong, the US, UK and France on board cruise ships such as the Celebrity Constellation, Celebrity Millennium and World Dream.
However, there are concerns that more needs to be done to build facilities for cruise ships that invariably have to moor at commercial wharves well away from the cities highlighted in the cruise itinerary. The country needs more cruise terminals and ports closure to tourist facilities for passengers who stay on board instead of signing up for sightseeing tours to cities that can be up to 60 km away from the port of call.
In HCMC, cruise ships have to dock at cargo piers and there are no shops, convenience stores or restaurants for passengers who want to go ashore but are not buying the cruise line’s city sightseeing trips.
Vietnam has just one harbour custom built for cruise ships, in Halong Bay, Quang Ninh province. It opened in late 2018.
HCMC is the major destination for cruise travellers, but cruise ships need to dock at Phu My Port in Ba Ria in Vung Tau Province, which is a
In the first three months of the year, Phu My Port welcomed 12 cruise trips, with about 36,000 passengers.
In comments to VNA, the city’s tourism spokesman said that until the construction of a dedicated cruise port is undertaken ships will continue to dock at Ba Ria in Vung Tau Province and transferred to HCM City by bus.
(Source: VNAT, Vietnam New Agency)
