The tourist boats operating on Da Nang’s Han River welcome about 5,000 passengers every month, which partly helps to advertise the tourism image of the city to both domestic and foreign visitors.  However, this figure is still lower than was expected.   

64-year old Tran Van Minh from Quang Nam Province’s Hoi An, the owner of the Minh Tan tourist boat, said that he has launched a Da Nang - Cham Islands discovery tour and charges around 1 million VND per person.  He added that although his tour is only popular at weeknds, he can earn an average monthly income of close to 20 million VND after deducting operating expenses.

Passengers now have to climb this ladder over the railings to get onto the boats. Gates in the railings would be easy to install.

An owner of the Cat Tien tourist boat said his boat started operating more than 2 months ago and its Rong (Dragon) Bridge - Thuan Phuoc Bridge tour is being offered to customers at a cost of 50,000 VND per person.  He added he would find it hard to attract customers if he tried to raise his tour price.

At present, there are 13 tourist boats in the city, but only 5 of them operate regularly on the Han River.

Most of the local tourist boats find it difficult to effectively operate on the river due to the lack of river piers.  In addition, the small-capacity boats do not operate in the rainy season because they cannot ensure the safety of their passengers.

According to local tourism experts, apart from building more piers, Da Nang should set up kiosks to sell the tickets and souvenirs, as well as offer diving and fishing trips and food and drink services.  Furthermore, Bach Dang Street should be pedestrianised, with established areas for shopping, entertainment, exhibitions and other uses.