Double-decker tour buses will hit the streets of Ha Noi and Da Nang soon in a new initiative to boost tourism, the Saigon Times has reported.

People dine on a double-decker bus which has been converted to a mobile restaurant as it travels through the streets of Ahmedabad 23 June 2010. (Photo by Reuters/Amit Dave)

In Da Nang, a local business will use about 30 buses, including sightseeing double-deckers, for the new service starting in January next year, said Tran Chi Cuong, Deputy Director of the city’s Tourism Department.

The open-top double-decker buses will take passengers to attractions around the city, Mr Cuong said, who said the service has been planned for quite a long time.

Meanwhile, tourism companies in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s southern commercial hub, are not really into the idea of double-decker buses plying narrow and congested streets.

But Nguyen Khoa Lua, Chief Executive of the Anh Viet Tourist company, said there's great potential because many countries have launched and operated similar services successfully. The company is already running hop-on hop-off sightseeing tours in Ho Chi Minh City on minibuses.

According to the World Tourism and Travel Council, last year, tourism revenue directly contributed 6.6% of Viet Nam’s gross domestic product.

The country is on track to receive more than 10 million tourists by the end of this year, which would far exceed the full-year target by 17.6% and last year’s arrivals by 26%, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism.

(Source: VNExpress International)