Recent years have seen a growing number of cruise ship passengers arriving in Da Nang.  This positive sign has inspired local travel agencies which specialise in arranging cruise ship arrivals to the city to pay more attention to developing their high-quality and special tourism products.

Cruise ship passengers arriving in the city, ready for tours to local attractions (Photo: Thu Ha)

Over the past year, 78 cruise ship arrivals, carrying around 120,000 passengers in total, docked at Tien Sa Port, up 46% in the volume of the number of passengers against 2016.  Since the start of this year, the city has welcomed a total of about 40,050 passengers from 30 cruise ship arrivals.

According to some travel agencies, cruise ship passengers come from many parts of the world, but mainly from Asian and European countries, especially China.  Each cruise ship usually carries between 2,000 and 3,000 passengers. 

Asian passengers are very interested in shopping and culinary activities, whilst European and American visitors prefer to discover the culture and daily lives of local residents.

From October through to April is the period considered to be the city’s cruise ship season.

Amongst travel agencies involved in arranging cruise ship arrivals to the city are the city’s branch of Destination-Asia, Viet Nam China International Travel Service Corporation, and the Ky Nghi Da Nang company (DN Vacation Co Ltd) and the city’s branch of the Saigontourist travel agency.

According to Mr Nguyen Tat Thuong from the city’s branch of Destination-Asia, only half of the total passengers from cruise ships docking at the Tien Sa Port usually take tours arranged by local travel agencies.

In reality, most of the European and American cruise ship passengers to the city are elderly, around 60 years old and over, and even some wheelchair-bound ones are usually accompanied by their relatives for being cared for. 

A representative from the city’s branch of the Saigontourist travel agency said this unit has provided its cruise ship passengers with tours to the Tra Que Vegetable Village in Hoi An City, and the Phong Nam Village and some time-honoured traditional craft villages in Hoa Vang District.

In addition to sight-seeing tours around the city, since late 2016, the municipal Tourism Promotion Centre has been operating 2-hour-long attractive city tours by cyclo. 

In detail, 2-hour-long ‘Cultural tour’ features the trips to the Da Nang Cathedral, the  showroom of the Au Lac Woodart Co Ltd, and the Museum of Cham Sculpture.  Participating in the 2-hour-long ‘Shopping tour’, the visitors enjoy shopping time at the Danang Souvenirs & Café, the showroom of the Au Lac Woodart Co Ltd, and the downtown Han Market.  Those who book for the 3-hour-long ‘Combined tour’ will have a chance to admire the beauty of Bach Dang Street, the Rong (Dragon) Bridge, the Museum of Da Nang, and the Da Nang Cathedral, as well as do shopping at the Danang Souvenirs & Café, the Au Lac Woodart Co Ltd’s showroom.

International visitors showing their interest in shopping at the Han Market

Mr Tran Chi Cuong, the Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism, as part of the ongoing the 2^nd stage of the Tien Sa Port upgrade project, a new anchorage has been opened on a pilot basis, thereby enabling to receive cruise ships, especially large-size ones.

In addition to developing specific cruise ship tourism industry promotion plans, the tourism sector is now striving to develop numerous new attractive tours in a bid to attract more cruise ship passengers to the city and increase their spending in the locality.

One focus will be on enhancing the re-introduction of eco-tourism tours to rural areas and traditional craft villages to enable the visitors to experience the simple and rustic atmosphere at rural markets, and renewing the existing arts programmes as well.

Last, but not least, appeals for investment are also being made to develop more shopping-cuisine entertainment complexes, especially dedicated souvenir shopping area, so as to satisfy the diversified demands of the cruise ship passengers.