In line with Da Nang’s tourism development strategies, inland waterway tourism is a highly potential product which the city is paying special heed to.

The city leaders inspecting inland waterway tourism services

Mr Huynh Duc Trung, the Head of Travel Management Office at the municipal Department of Tourism, said, there are currently 25 eligible tourist boats in the city, of which 17 operate on the former Han River Port - Tran Thi Ly Bridge route, and the remaining ones travel on the Han River-Hon Chao route.

These tourist boasts offer a wide range of entertainment services, including musical performances, karaoke, drinking and eating, and Cham Apsara dancing performances.

Most of the sightseeing boat tour operators have built their new boats whose accommodation capacity and designs are in line with the city’s standards.

In addition, training courses have been organised for boat skippers and crew members in order to enhance their service quality.

However, there are some shortcomings in the performance of inland waterway tourism. In reality, the city is still facing a shortage of tourist boat piers and wharves, and attractive and new tourism products. In particular, most of the existing tourist boats are only operating on the former Han River Port - Tran Thi Ly Bridge route, whilst other river routes have yet to be fully exploited.

The municipal administration has given a nod to using the Tien Sa beach area as a wharf for tourist boats operating on the Port-Hon Chao and the Port - the mouth of the Han River - Son Tra Peninsula routes.

General Director of the Viet Nam Travel Mart company Nguyen Nhu Nam underscored the importance of developing infrastructure and services at attractions on the Son Tra Peninsula for inland waterway routes, with a focus on building more tourist boat piers and wharves, sanitary areas, camping areas and other auxiliary facilities.

Inland waterway tourism is one of the city’s priorities

Also, it is also a good recommendation for the city to appeal for private investment into new inland waterway transportation routes along the Tuy Loan and Cau Do rivers during which passengers will experience homestay services and beautiful countryside villages.

In addition, the dredging of the Co Co River which runs through Da Nang and Hoi An, should be conducted in order to open up an opportunity to develop the tourism sector in the 2 localities.

According to the local authorities, the construction progress of the trip boat piers, namely CT15, K20, Tuy Loan, and Thai Lai is being accelerated.

It is expected that, within this month, the municipal Travel Association will organise a famtrip delegation consisting of representatives from tourism businesses to survey services in the Thai Lai Village, Hoa Vang District, for the building of tour packages for their clients.

During the first half of this year, the number of passengers onboard tourist boats operating on the Han River in the evening was 394,473, a rise of 43% compared to the same period last year. 65% of the total passengers were Chinese and South Korean visitors, 10% came from other foreign countries, and the remainder were domestic ones.

Noticeable, there was a sharp rise in the number of visitors watching the pyrotechnic shows from boats during the recent Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2019 against last year’s event.