Two months after the Ho Chi Minh City authorities announced the riverwaytourism development strategy with six routes from Bach Dang Wharf toBinh Dong, Cu Chi, Can Gio, Long An, Binh Quoi and Phu My Hung, assignedto Saigontourist, Sai Gon Tiep Thi newspaper conducted a survey in lateAugust to outline the panorama of riverway tourism in the city.
* A look from the river
At 7 am on a Saturday, French tourist Elisabeth Ngondara Olivry andher husband cautiously crossed the busy road in front of the Majestichotel to a pontoon to take a river trip on the Saigon River. Afterchecking in, the couple were welcomed by the staff of the Saigon RiverExpress Boat on board. Other passengers included Graham Taylor fromAustralia and three young Americans.
The boat staff asked themto put on lifejackets and the breakfast was served onboard with bread,bottled water and some native fruits like bananas, bonbon, rambutan...The boat sped up, leaving the city with high-rise buildings behind.
Elisabeth and her husband sat at the prow to enjoy the early sunlight.She said: "The villages along the river are fresh and peaceful. I usedto try a canoe tour in Bangkok, but the river there did not make me feelto be close to nature as the tour on the Saigon River does.
"This tour was recommended by the hotel receptionist. We also know thatthis city has many rivers and canals so it would have been a mistake ifwe did not choose this tour to learn more about it."
Unlike theFrench couple, Taylor, a retired teacher who had to walk with crutches,chose this tour because his friend, a reporter of the Saigon TimesDaily, recommended it. Taylor said his condition did not allow him toget into the Cu Chi tunnels, but lying on the stem of a boat to see thescene on and along the river and breathing fresh air are indescribable.Inside the boat, the group of young Americans enjoyed fruit and tookpictures.
Waterway tours are outstanding products which havebrought about significant revenue for travel companies that focused oncity tours over the past 10 years. However, according to a survey at theticket counter of some travel companies, there are not many choices fortourists.
Among Saigon River tours, visitors often choose thetwo midrange ones which have been very familiar with tourists fordecades: Ho Chi Minh City - Cu Chi and Ho Chi Minh City - Vam Sat, withthe travel time of 4-6 hours, the price from 1.7 to 2.2 million VND(70-110 USD).
"The time and the price are reasonable whilevisitors can learn more about the history, culture and nature of thecity," Nhat Hai, a tour guide of Exptissmo, explained, adding that eachweek he had three or four of those tours.
However, river toursare only favoured by foreign tourists. In the first month after the citylaunched the strategy to develop riverway tourism in June,Saigontourist had 231 tourists and 80 percent of them foreigners.
Of the six river tours, visitors still preferred two "traditional"tours that have been offered for decades – Ho Chi Minh City-Cu Chi andHo Chi Minh City-Vam Sat.
* Waiting for the better days
"Eighteen years ago when I was a tour guide of the Youth Travel, Idreamed of tours on the Saigon River. At that time, my company purchaseda 25m boat with 50 seats to serve tourists on the Ho Chi Minh City - CuChi route. At first, it attracted a lot of foreign tourists but afterseveral trips, we did not have enough passengers and the river tour wasthen canceled," said Tran The Dung, who is now deputy director of theYoung Generation Travel Company.
Bach Dang Wharf, the startingpoint of most of tours on the Saigon River for decades, is not investedproperly into a tourist wharf. As a tourist port, the wharf does nothave a parking lot. Foreign tourists have to cross a busy road to enterthe wharf.
The wharf is small and does not have enough spacefor boats. An Son Lam, director of Indochina Sails, said that hiscompany had to invest 2 billion VND (100,000 USD) to build a pontoonbridge to serve the company’s 10 boats. The boats of other companieshave to temporarily anchor in Thu Thiem.
Hoang Cam Giang, whois in charge of the river tours of Saigontourist, added thatrestrictions on anchoring space is one of the hinderences to thedevelopment of river tourism in the city. Giang said of the six rivertours launched in June, after one month, the route to Phu My Hung wascanceled just because of lacking a wharf in Phu My Hung.
Another problem comes from the old bridges of Binh Loi, Long Phu, RachOng and Dan Xay. These bridges hinder the operation of big boats. As aresult, travel firms can only organise tours for groups of less than 25people. Tran The Dung, deputy director of the Young Generation Travel,said the cost of small tours like this is high, so river tours are onlysuitable for foreign tourists.
But why inner-city tours, withlow prices, do not attract tourists? The cruise ticket for the tour fromBach Dang wharf to Binh Dong is only 300,000 VND (14 USD) and it isonly 10 USD for the tours to Thi Nghe and Nhieu Loc canals.
Atour guide explained by personal experience: "The tour to Tau Hu canalis very interesting but on the day the tide ebbs away, the section fromBen Nghe to Tau Hu is a dark, fetid canal."
Cam Giang fromSaigontourist added that the best tour to introduce the history, cultureand the development of Ho Chi Minh City is the Bach Dang-Cho Lon routebut it is important to re-create the floating market, maintain oldhouses along the river and build a wharf in the commercial area of theChinese community.
"Besides water pollution and insufficientinfrastructure, another problem is the lack of fascinating stopoversalong the route," Giang added.-VNA
* A look from the river
At 7 am on a Saturday, French tourist Elisabeth Ngondara Olivry andher husband cautiously crossed the busy road in front of the Majestichotel to a pontoon to take a river trip on the Saigon River. Afterchecking in, the couple were welcomed by the staff of the Saigon RiverExpress Boat on board. Other passengers included Graham Taylor fromAustralia and three young Americans.
The boat staff asked themto put on lifejackets and the breakfast was served onboard with bread,bottled water and some native fruits like bananas, bonbon, rambutan...The boat sped up, leaving the city with high-rise buildings behind.
Elisabeth and her husband sat at the prow to enjoy the early sunlight.She said: "The villages along the river are fresh and peaceful. I usedto try a canoe tour in Bangkok, but the river there did not make me feelto be close to nature as the tour on the Saigon River does.
"This tour was recommended by the hotel receptionist. We also know thatthis city has many rivers and canals so it would have been a mistake ifwe did not choose this tour to learn more about it."
Unlike theFrench couple, Taylor, a retired teacher who had to walk with crutches,chose this tour because his friend, a reporter of the Saigon TimesDaily, recommended it. Taylor said his condition did not allow him toget into the Cu Chi tunnels, but lying on the stem of a boat to see thescene on and along the river and breathing fresh air are indescribable.Inside the boat, the group of young Americans enjoyed fruit and tookpictures.
Waterway tours are outstanding products which havebrought about significant revenue for travel companies that focused oncity tours over the past 10 years. However, according to a survey at theticket counter of some travel companies, there are not many choices fortourists.
Among Saigon River tours, visitors often choose thetwo midrange ones which have been very familiar with tourists fordecades: Ho Chi Minh City - Cu Chi and Ho Chi Minh City - Vam Sat, withthe travel time of 4-6 hours, the price from 1.7 to 2.2 million VND(70-110 USD).
"The time and the price are reasonable whilevisitors can learn more about the history, culture and nature of thecity," Nhat Hai, a tour guide of Exptissmo, explained, adding that eachweek he had three or four of those tours.
However, river toursare only favoured by foreign tourists. In the first month after the citylaunched the strategy to develop riverway tourism in June,Saigontourist had 231 tourists and 80 percent of them foreigners.
Of the six river tours, visitors still preferred two "traditional"tours that have been offered for decades – Ho Chi Minh City-Cu Chi andHo Chi Minh City-Vam Sat.
* Waiting for the better days
"Eighteen years ago when I was a tour guide of the Youth Travel, Idreamed of tours on the Saigon River. At that time, my company purchaseda 25m boat with 50 seats to serve tourists on the Ho Chi Minh City - CuChi route. At first, it attracted a lot of foreign tourists but afterseveral trips, we did not have enough passengers and the river tour wasthen canceled," said Tran The Dung, who is now deputy director of theYoung Generation Travel Company.
Bach Dang Wharf, the startingpoint of most of tours on the Saigon River for decades, is not investedproperly into a tourist wharf. As a tourist port, the wharf does nothave a parking lot. Foreign tourists have to cross a busy road to enterthe wharf.
The wharf is small and does not have enough spacefor boats. An Son Lam, director of Indochina Sails, said that hiscompany had to invest 2 billion VND (100,000 USD) to build a pontoonbridge to serve the company’s 10 boats. The boats of other companieshave to temporarily anchor in Thu Thiem.
Hoang Cam Giang, whois in charge of the river tours of Saigontourist, added thatrestrictions on anchoring space is one of the hinderences to thedevelopment of river tourism in the city. Giang said of the six rivertours launched in June, after one month, the route to Phu My Hung wascanceled just because of lacking a wharf in Phu My Hung.
Another problem comes from the old bridges of Binh Loi, Long Phu, RachOng and Dan Xay. These bridges hinder the operation of big boats. As aresult, travel firms can only organise tours for groups of less than 25people. Tran The Dung, deputy director of the Young Generation Travel,said the cost of small tours like this is high, so river tours are onlysuitable for foreign tourists.
But why inner-city tours, withlow prices, do not attract tourists? The cruise ticket for the tour fromBach Dang wharf to Binh Dong is only 300,000 VND (14 USD) and it isonly 10 USD for the tours to Thi Nghe and Nhieu Loc canals.
Atour guide explained by personal experience: "The tour to Tau Hu canalis very interesting but on the day the tide ebbs away, the section fromBen Nghe to Tau Hu is a dark, fetid canal."
Cam Giang fromSaigontourist added that the best tour to introduce the history, cultureand the development of Ho Chi Minh City is the Bach Dang-Cho Lon routebut it is important to re-create the floating market, maintain oldhouses along the river and build a wharf in the commercial area of theChinese community.
"Besides water pollution and insufficientinfrastructure, another problem is the lack of fascinating stopoversalong the route," Giang added.-VNA
