French luxury cruise ship Le Lapérouse carrying 88 foreign tourists arrives in HCM City’s Saigon Port on Sunday. Photo sggpnews.org.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City has great potential to attract international cruise ship tourists as part of an effort to speed up tourism recovery post-pandemic, experts said.

Lê Trương Hiền Hòa, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, said the city aims to become a new and attractive destination for international cruise ship travellers as they are a major source of visitors to the city.

The city is expected to receive several large cruise ships carrying between 200 and 300 guests by the end of the year, he said.

To welcome them, the city’s tourism sector has focused on improving catering, entertainment, and shopping services, he added.

The department is also working with travel agents, shipping firms, and ports to ensure the best services, including nighttime tourism activities, during their stay in the city, he added.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure the safety and satisfaction of the tourists,” he said.

The city would need to upgrade seaports to be able to receive larger cruise vessels, he noted.

Some seaports able to receive large cruise vessels in the country include the seaport in Phú Quốc (Kiên Giang Province), Phú Mỹ seaport (Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province), and Nha Trang seaport (Khánh Hòa Province).

On Sunday, French luxury cruise ship Le Lapérouse carrying 88 foreign tourists arrived in HCM City’s Saigon Port to become the first international cruise line to arrive in Việt Nam after two years of 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, passengers took part in a city tour, go shopping, and experience catering and entertainment services.

Earlier, the ship arrived in Bến Đầm Port in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province, allowing passengers to visit tourist destinations in the Côn Đảo Islands.

The ship left the city yesterday for Nha Trang, Quy Nhơn, Đà Nẵng, Huế and other destinations.

Potential

According to cruise tourism companies, Việt Nam is expected to receive a number of international cruise lines by the end of the year during the peak travel season.

Nguyễn Hữu Y Yên, general director of Saigontourist, said the company would start receiving international tourists from cruise ships from early December.

As scheduled, three ships of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line will enter the country each month.

These ships, mainly transporting American and European travellers, will arrive in HCM City, Đà Nẵng and Hạ Long Bay from December until the end of 2024.

In recent years, the city has become a popular destination for major international shipping lines such as Royal Caribbean Cruise Group, Princess Cruises, Costa Cruises and Viking Cruises.

Major companies exploiting the cruise tourism market include Saigontourist, Tân Hồng Travel Co. Ltd, Destination Asia, and others.

In HCM City, tourists can join in half-day or full-day tours to famous tourist attractions such as the History Museum of HCM City, War Remnants Museum, Bến Thành Market, China Town (in District 5), Cần Giờ mangrove ecological forest, Củ Chi tunnel, and customised tours.

The HCM City Immigration Department has implemented electronic visa (e-visa) for foreign tourists at seaports.

The application process is made easy as tourists can go online, fill out the application form, pay online and get the approval letter.

The peak season for cruise visitors is from November to April (winter).

Besides upgrading seaport infrastructure, Việt Nam should improve its cruise tourism promotion as most international tourists think of other countries such as Brazil, Russia, Thailand and Singapore instead of Việt Nam, experts said.

Việt Nam received more than 1.44 million international arrivals in the first eight months of 2022, a 13.7-fold rise from a year earlier when the border was still closed, according to a report by the General Statistics Office.

Of the international arrivals, 88.2 per cent came to Việt Nam by air, up 18.5 times, while 11.8 per cent by road and only 0.03 per cent by sea, said the report. — VNS