According to the owners of some of Da Nang’s tour boats, between this coming September and next March, 90% of the passengers taking river tours are expected to be from South Korea and China, whilst during the summer season the majority are domestic visitors.

In attempting to ensure the quality of river tours, the focus will be on furthering the professionalism of the service providers and ensuring the safety of passengers.

Mr Le Van Phu, the owner of the Phu Quy 1, stressed the need for the city authorities to create detailed regulations for the design of local trip boats in order to effectively increase the brand identity of river tourism.

He said that a focus should be on establishing a waterway service providers’ association in order to ensure the best management of this kind of service and to promote mutual support between association members.

Passengers wearing lifejackets whilst on a boat trip

Ms Tran Thi Ngoc Phuong, from the Dong Vinh Thinh company which operates the Tau Rong Song Han, highlighted the significance that the establishment of such an association would have on encouraging boat tour providers to diversify their products, and on avoiding anti-dumping problems which have adversely affected the city's tourism environment.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Tran Chi Cuong pledged, “My unit will make every effort to promote the establishment of this association very soon”.

In an attempt to restore the number of passengers taking evening river cruises, the department and the local Travel Association will jointly work with travel and media agencies located at the city’s key tourism markets to reassure customers about the safety of boat tours.

Greater efforts will be made to ensure that trip boat tickets are issued in accordance with the city's regulations.

Also, importance will be attached to checking the professional skills expected of trip boat workers, and to designing suitable lifejackets for boat tour passengers to wear in order to ensure their safety.

Local travel agencies will be given a list of the speedboats and trip boats which are licensed to operate on the Han River, whilst river tourism products will be widely publicised in the mass media.

Video clips advertising local boat tours have already been made, and they will be introduced at the upcoming 2016 Beach-Leisure & MICE Travel Mart which will take place in the city from 24 - 26 June.  The intention is to introduce the domestic and international participants to this kind of service to attract their active involvement.