The cruise ship is a popular tourism product, with many countries having already utilised this to further develop its tourism industry. Vietnam is also embracing this model, however, even famous coastal tourism destinations like Da Nang have yet to fully realise the potential.
According to statistics, Vietnam welcomes over 500 cruise ships with over 300,000 holidaymakers every year. Da Nang city scores one third of the total holidaymakers coming here, proving its undeniable popularity. However, compared to the over 4.2 million cruise ship passengers travelling all over Asia, the number remains modest.
Up till now, Da Nang still uses the Tien Sa port for cruise ships docking and greeting tourists. This has created unfavorable conditions for tour organisers in terms of featuring tourism products and incorporating cultural tourism products of the locality.
The ports used currently are not specifically designed for tourism purposes, the lack of infrastructure means they are just general ship docking sites. Therefore, local authorities need to seek specific investment strategies to improve and develop the tourism port system and fully realise cruise ship tourism potential in the future./.
