Determining that inland waterway tourism is one of the unique products, over the past years, Da Nang has launched many projects and plans to develop this field. However, up to now, the full potential of inland waterway tourism has yet to be  exploited.

Tourists enjoy capturing images of the Han River Bridge while taking a boat for sightseeing in the evening. Photo: NGOC HA

Unexploited potential

The two currently-operating inland waterway tourism routes, the Han River - Tran Thi Ly Bridge route and the CT15 - Hon Sup - Bai Nam - Bai Da route, attract a large number of tourists.

According to statistics in 2024, the number of inland waterway tourists reached 939,675, an increase of 13.4% over the same period in 2023. With the Han River - Tran Thi Ly Bridge route, boats departing from the Han River area (in front of Novotel Hotel, Bach Dang Street) bring sightseeing experience to tourists in the evening.

During about one hour, visitors can enjoy the modern beauty of riverside buildings, listen to introductions about the bridges connecting the two banks of the Han River such as the Han River, Dragon Nguyen Van Troi and Tran Thi Ly bridges, watch the ‘Dragon’ breathe fire and water on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. At the same time, they can enjoy traditional art performances such as Cham dance, contemporary dance and culinary experiences.

Meanwhile, the inland waterway tourism route CT15 - Hon Sup - Bai Nam - Bai Da takes visitors to beautiful spots on the Son Tra Peninsula. Currently, three businesses - Aphodite cruise ship of Viet AnGroup and 2 other high-speed boat companies including Le Hung and Sao Bien Xanh - are operating on this route.

According to many experts, inland waterway products are still not commensurate with the potential of the city. According to Mr. Dang Hoa, the owner of the Han Giang tourist boat, the city is exploiting a short section of the river while there are a lot of tourism products on rivers and seas.

The city’s administration has issued a project to develop inland waterway tourism until 2030, with a vision towards 2045; announced many inland waterway passenger transport routes in the city.

Mr. Hoa said that the city needs to soon complete the dredging of the Co Co River to deploy a cultural, historical and spiritual tourism route to the Quan The Am Pagoda and Marble Mountains scenic spot.

Sharing the same view, the General Director of the Viet An Group Joint Stock Company Nguyen Thanh Tam said that functional sectors need to quickly complete mechanisms, policies, call for investment in waterway tourism products.

Specifically, it is a need to expand the CT15 wharf route to Hon Sup - Bai Nam - Bai Da and having a mechanism to call for investment in destinations on the route to increase tourism products, soon meet the needs and tastes of tourists. In particular, the city needs to soon plan, delimit and allow the organisation of water entertainment activities, swimming and diving to enhance the experience for tourists.

When will the new routes be exploited?

The 2024 Da Nang Tourism Development Plan issued by the Da Nang People’s Committee on December 20, 2023 identifies the development of inland waterway tourism as one of the key tasks. On that basis, on April 16, 2024, the Da Nang People’s Committee issued Plan No. 95/KH-UBND to implement the project on Developing Inland Waterway Tourism in Da Nang for the 2024 - 2025 period.

According to the plan, inland waterway tourism activities focus on 4 main routes in the direction of feasible organisation of activities and services during the day/night, including: Han River - Tran Thi Ly; Han River - Co Co; CT15 - Hon Sup, Bai Nam, Bai Da; route from shore to island: Da Nang - Cu Lao Cham (after being permitted); at the same time, the early connection and implementation of the Han River - Da Nang Bay route.

According to the Da Nang Department of Tourism, in 2025, relevant departments, and sectors will continue to implement the inland waterway tourism development plan. In particular, the city will speed up the completion of the construction of auxiliary works at the Quan The Am pagoda wharf area (X6), speed up the project to soon clear the Co Co River connecting with Quang Nam Province to effectively exploit the Han River route to the Marble Mountains connecting with Hoi An - Quang Nam, propose solutions to exploit the wharf west of Nguyen Van Troi Bridge (Y7) to serve waterway tourism.

At the same time, heed will be paid to calling for more investment in building the Han River Port (Y6) and the Han River Cruise Port area (Y5) into a large-scale specialised tourist ports associated with ancillary service complexes along the Bach Dang - Nhu Nguyet route according to the Da Nang Master Plan for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision towards 2050, and develop Sung Co and Ma Da sites for the sake of the waterway tourism development.

In addition, relevant agencies shall carry out the contents related to investment and construction of inland waterway ports according to the planning locations in the Da Nang Bay area (Sung Co and Ma Da beach areas...); consider allowing attracting investment in floating pontoon bridges at suitable locations in the Son Cha island area to serve recreational and entertainment activities on the route; call on organisations, businesses and individuals to invest in high-speed boat fleets with large tonnage, ensuring waterway operations from shore to island: Da Nang - Cu Lao Cham and Da Nang - Ly Son routes, propose expanding the inland waterway route of the Son Tra Peninsula.

The functional sectors will gradually implement the project of developing inland waterway tourism in Da Nang until 2030, with a vision toward 2045, with the overall goal of developing inland waterway tourism to turn Da Nag into one of the centres of infrastructure and tourist boat services in Viet Nam.

Reporting by NGOC HA – Translating by A.THU