According to the Da Nang Department of Tourism, between 2012 and 2017, the annual average growth rate of cruise ship passengers arriving in the city hit 10.8%, and that of cruise ship arrivals reached 5.4%.

In the first 10 months of this year, the city welcomed over 102,000 cruise ship passengers in total, an increase of 42% against last year.

In particular, between January and October this year, 77 cruise ship arrivals, carrying over 102,000 passengers in total, docked at the Tien Sa Port, up 42% in the volume of the number of passengers compared with the same period last year. Of them, more than 86,000 passengers came from China, a rise of 120% against 2017.

Over recent years, some of domestic travel agencies which specialise in arranging cruise ship arrivals such as Saigontourist, Pacific Legend, Destination Asia and Khang Huy have paid more attention to developing their high-quality and special tourism products. Included have been short tours to the Linh Ung Pagoda, the Museum of Da Nang and the Museum of Cham Sculpture, a city tour by cyclo, and tours to go shopping at the Han Market and watch Tuong performances at the Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theatre.

Mrs Jullie Bernard and his husband from France said they felt very happy to visit the city by cruise ship for the first time. They said they were very impressed with taking a city tour by cyclo. In addition, the French visitors showed their keen interest in a rich collection of valuable artifacts of the Champa culture.

These foreign visitors also underscored the impotance of developing more tours to rural areas and new shops selling local specialities in order to attract even more visitors to the city.

Foreign shoppers at the Han Market

Mr Nguyen Tat Thuong from the city’s branch of the Destination Asia Co Ltd underlined the necessity for the city to develop its special tourism products for cruise ship passengers who only stay in Da Nang for one to two days.

For example, most of the European and American cruise ship passengers prefer to explore local customs and culture. Therefore, the city should restore some traditional villages such as the Cam Ne sedge mat-making village and the La Huong vegetable growing area, as well as develop more ecotourism products on the western side of the city.

Mr Nguyen Son Thuy, the General Manager of the Indochina Unique Tourist Co Ltd, noted a delegation of the Department attended the Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific (SCAP), which took place in Shanghai, China, in October, for the first time. This was considered as an important step in developing plans for promoting the development of the city's cruise ship sector.

However, he proposed that the city leader should expedite the expansion of the Tien Sa Port with the aim of developing Tien Sa Port into an international-level tourism port. Once operational, this port can be able to receive 365 cruise ship arrivals per year instead of around 120 ones.

The Director of the Khang Huy Holiday Co Ltd, Mr Ly Dac Nam, highlighted the significance of improving infrastructure, especially building seaports to serve cruise ship passengers, as well as creating new and special tourism products, in a bid to make cruise ship passengers stay longer in the city.

Mr Nguyen Xuan Binh, Deputy Director of the municipal Tourism Department, said that the city was focusing on accelerating the construction of the Lien Chieu Port, and turning the Tien Sa Port into a tourism port.

Appeals are being made for the general public to develop some services at the Tien Sa Port such as a waiting area, souvenir shops, drinking and eating services, and arts programmes.

“We are conducting surveys of new tourism products which are suitable to tourists' tastes. Greater efforts are being made to introduce intangible cultural values ​​into our tours, including Cham dance, Tuong performances, bai choi (singing while acting as playing cards) performances, and water puppet shows” Mr Binh added.

He emphasised heed was paying to attending cruise ships-related fairs and conferences in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Italy and the USA in order to promote the city’s tourism and attract even more cruise ship passengers to the city.