Da Nang has become an increasingly popular destination in Viet Nam for international cruise ships due to its favourable geographical location with the deep-sea Tien Sa Port.

International cruise ship passengers arrived in Da Nang in late 2019

Located in the Da Nang Bay and surrounded by the Hai Van Mountain and the Son Tra Peninsula, the Tien Sa Port with its 450m-long breakwater is 12km² in width and 12-17m in depth. Thanks to this, the port is easily accessible by large cruise ships carrying up to 5,000 passengers each.

From the Tien Sa Port, international cruise ships can find it accessible to other major ports of Viet Nam, and those of the world such as Hong Kong (China), Taipei - Taiwan (China), Manila (Philippines), Singapore, Malaysia, Shanghai (China), and Yokohama (Japan).

In recent years, Da Nang has focused on expanding the Tien Sa Port, upgrading transport infrastructure, and simplifying entry/exit procedures for cruise ship passengers with a view to developing Tien Sa Port into a modern cruise ship port in Central Viet Nam, and Viet Nam at large.

During the 2012-2017 period, the annual average growth rate of cruise ship passengers arriving in Da Nang hit 10.8%, and the figure of cruise ship arrivals reached 5.4%.

In 2012, 57 cruise ship arrivals, carrying 52,570 passengers in total, docked at the Tien Sa Port. These figures jumped to 74 and 87,798 in the number of cruise ship arrivals and passengers respectively in 2017.

Between 2008 and 2011, the potential sources of cruise ship passengers for Da Nang were from Germany, Australia, the USA and the UK. However, since 2012, 80% of cruise passengers arriving in Da Nang have come from China.

In 2019 alone, Da Nang welcomed nearly 130,000 passengers from101 cruise ship arrivals, up 13% in the number of passengers against 2018.

Till date, Da Nang has received a large volume of luxury cruise ships from the best cruise lines in the world, including Star Cruises, Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Dream Cruises, Holland America Cruises, MSC Cruises, Azamara Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Seabourn Cruises, Hapag- Lloyd Cruises, Silversea, Windstar Cruises, Viking Cruises, Prespige Cruise Holding, and Diamond Cruise International.

In reality, in an effort to attract more cruise ship passengers to Da Nang, some of domestic travel agencies which specialise in arranging cruise ship arrivals such as Saigontourist, Pacific Legend, Destination Asia and Khang Huy have made some attempt to develop their high-quality and special tourism products. Included were short tours to Da Nang popular tourist attractions, a city tour by cyclo, and tours to go shopping at traditional markets, and tours to watch Tuong performances at the Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theatre.

In late 2018, Da Nang hosted a cruise ships-related conference in order to promote its cruise tourism and target even more cruise ship passengers.

Mrs Truong Thi Thu Huong from the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism underlined a must-do for Da Nang, and other Vietnamese localities with seaports, to build seaports to exclusively serve cruise ship passengers, as well as develop some services at such seaports such as a waiting area, souvenir shops, drinking and eating services, and arts programmes.

“One focus should be on developing new and special tourism products which are suitable to tourists of different age groups. Heed also should be paid to introducing intangible cultural values ​​into one-day tours, including Cham dance, Tuong performances, bai choi (singing while acting as playing cards) performances, and water puppet shows, in a bid to attract more cruise ship passengers to Da Nang” Mrs Huong emphasised.

A representative of the Khang Huy Holiday Co Ltd highlighted the significance of improving infrastructure, and attracting domestic and foreign investment into Da Nang to develop more shopping-cuisine entertainment complexes, especially dedicated souvenir shopping area in the future, so as to make cruise ship passengers stay longer and increase their spending in Da Nang.

By SONG KHUE - Translated by M.D