Cruise ship tourism is one of the important markets of the Da Nang tourism industry, contributing to the increase in the number of international visitors to the city in the last months of the year. To meet the increasing demand of this tourist market, the city's tourism industry and businesses have prepared infrastructure, services, and tourism products to welcome visitors.

Cruise ship tourists check in at the Tien Sa Port, Da Nang. Photo: THU HA

Adding new products

The cruise ship season in Da Nang usually starts from October every year to April of the following year. Cruise ship tourists stay in Da Nang for a short time, usually 10 - 12 hours, some ships stay overnight at the port but passengers sleep on the ship. Therefore, the time of passengers when leaving the ship is mainly to visit scenic spots, experience services, local culture and shopping services.

Fully aware of this fact, tourism service businesses across the city have focused on building products suitable to the needs of tourists. Many tourists prefer shopping at the Han Market and experiencing a city tour (touring around the city) by cyclo. This is a quite unique product, chosen by many cruise ship passengers when arriving in Da Nang.

Each cyclo tour usually lasts from 30 - 45 minutes, taking visitors to enjoy and explore the lives of the city’s people, passing through some of Da Nang’s highlights on urban routes such as Han River, Rong (Dragon) Bridge, Han River Bridge, Museum of Cham Sculpture, APEC Sculpture Garden Park, Han Market and Da Nang Cathedral.

Deputy Director in charge of the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre Huynh Thi Huong Lan said that in order to improve the quality of cyclo tourism products, the centre has courses to improve foreign languages, knowledge, and civilized behaviour skills in serving tourists, thanks to which some drivers can communicate, greet, and introduce briefly about tourist attractions on the tourist’s tour.

According to Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association Cao Tri Dung, Da Nang is also one of the tourist centres that attract cruise tourists thanks to its advantages in terms of landscapes, attractions and infrastructure. This is a group of tourists with high spending, often preferring tourism products related to indigenous culture, experiential tourism and regional cuisine.

Every year, tourism businesses exploiting cruise tourists map out plans to connect and cooperate with shipping lines in bringing tourists to Da Nang. This year, the number of cruises ship tourists to Da Nang is expected to increase compared with last year.

To anticipate this group of tourists, in addition to existing tourism products, the Da Nang Tourism Association has coordinated with the municipal Department of Tourism to survey and add some new products for cruise ship tourists such as a day tour to Ba Na; village tours, community eco-tours are being formed and introduced to shipping lines.

Tourists experience a cyclo tour around the city. Photo: THU HA

Ensuring tourism environment during reception times

According to information from cruise ship operators, they are currently mainly operating tour programmes for cruise ship passengers in Da Nang and neighbouring localities such as the Tien Sa - Ba Na port programme (the tour chosen by most tourists); Da Nang - Hoi An - My Son/Cam Thanh coconut forest/Thanh Ha pottery village programme (the main tour for cruise ship passengers).

In addition, there are other programmes such as the Museum of Da Nang /the Museum of Cham Sculpture - Han Market - Marble Mountains - Cyclo tour), City tour (Marble Mountains - Linh Ung Pagoda on the Son Tra Peninsula - Han Market), Da Nang - Hue Ancient Capital and a programme for self-discovery tourists, the bus will drop off passengers at APEC Sculpture Park.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai An, the Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism analysed that in the 2015 - 2019 period, with the increase in passenger ships arriving at the port, the average annual growth rate in the total number of cruise ship tourists reached 10.3% and the number of ship trips reached 3.8%.
In particular, in 2019, Da Nang welcomed 122,844 visitors (88 ship arrivals).

Previously, the cruise tourism market mainly came from the UK, Australia, the US, and Germany. However, from 2012 to the 2015 - 2019 period, the Chinese tourist market always accounted for over 80%.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the 2020 - 2022 period had a low rate of tourists travelling by sea, of which in 2020 there were 11 cruise ship arrivals with a total of about 23,000 tourists; in 2022 there were 3 arrivals with about 500 visitors. In 2021 alone, there were no cruise trips. In 2024, the number of tourists from cruise ships arriving at the Tien Sa Port is recording good growth from markets such as Europe, the US, China, Australia, etc.

Since the beginning of the year, the city has welcomed 27 cruise ships with a total of 32,550 arrivals, an increase of 5 cruise ships and 14,450 arrivals compared to the total of 2023. It is expected that in 2024, the city will welcome more than 40,000 cruise ship tourists for sightseeing and travelling, an increase of 120% compared to 2023 (in 2023, there were 22 cruise ships with 18,100 arrivals in total).

To prepare well for welcoming cruise ship passengers, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai An said that the municipal Department of Tourism will continue to coordinate with relevant agencies and units according to their functions in the process of welcoming cruise ship passengers, including ensuring a tourism environment, security and safety during welcoming cruise ship tourists and the process of welcoming and serving cruise ships bringing international tourists to Da Nang.

With the support of the Da Nang Border Guard units and the Da Nang Port, when the ship arrives at the port, the entry procedures for guests are carried out quickly and friendly, creating favourable conditions for tourists to visit and shop. In the future, the Department will coordinate with units to launch information counters to provide tourism information for tourists.

Reporting by THU HA - Translating by A.THU