The HCM City first-ever river festival held from August 4 to 6 offered many cultural and entertainment activities related to the city’s waterways for locals and tourists. — VNA/VNS Photo Mỹ Phương

HCM CITY — HCM City’s waterway tourism is expected to earn VNĐ300 billion (US$12.6 million) per year this year and next year, and increase 10 per cent in the following years.

The municipal People’s Committee has issued a plan for the development of waterway tourism products in the 2023-25 period.

The city’s waterway tourism has great natural advantages for strong development thanks to its system of rivers and canals with scenic views. Waterway tours are considered as one of the city’s new tourism products that are expected to provide new, attractive experiences to visitors.

Under the plan, the city plans to launch waterway tourism products in all inland routes on all rivers in the city, and inter-provincial routes connecting with the neighbouring provinces of Đồng Nai, Bình Dương, Tiền Giang, Long An and Bến Tre.

By 2025, it aims to develop at least 10 waterway tours and waterway tour programmes linking seaports and river routes.

The city is striving to welcome about 500,000 visitors a year to waterway tourism programmes in the 2023-24 period. This number is expected to increase by 10 per cent in the following years.

The number of international cruise ship tourists arriving in the city will be 100,000 in 2023 and 2024, and rise 12-15 per cent in the following years.

In the 2023-24 period, the city’s cruise industry is expected to hit VNĐ500 billion ($21 million) per year in revenue, and increase by 12 per cent in the following years.

The municipal People’s Committee has also asked relevant agencies to focus on improving the quality of waterway tourism products, including river tours.

The city seeks to develop waterway tourism to become a typical tourism product, contributing to the diversification of the city’s tourism products.

It is striving to have hundreds of water transport craft by 2025, including 200 canoes and 100 boats, ships, cruise ships and others.

It will improve voice-over translation systems to provide tourists with information about waterway tourism routes, and identify the historical and cultural values of rivers and canals across the city.

The municipal administration has urged relevant units to use geographic information system (GIS) technology for building detailed maps of waterway tourism routes and destinations on the routes.

It will build more wharves and launch new waterway tourism products and programmes, boost cruise tourism, and develop tourism and entertainment services along the river bank and on river cruise ships.

Its first-ever river festival was organised from August 4 to 6 with a series of cultural and entertainment activities related to the city’s waterways for locals and tourists.

The festival aimed to preserve and promote the city’s culture and history as a culturally rich riverside urban area, and make use of its waterways to boost the economy and tourism.

It is expected to become a highlight of the city’s tourism in the future. — VNS