Situated adjacent to the renowned Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO-recognised World Natural Heritage site, Bai Tu Long Bay is home to over 600 islands and islets, unspoiled beaches, and rich marine biodiversity.

Two luxury cruise ships, Seabourn Encore and Silver Whisper, have docked at Ha Long International Cruise Port, bringing more than 1,200 international tourists to Quang Ninh province, home to UNESCO-recognised natural heritage Ha Long Bay.

The northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, home to world heritage site Ha Long Bay, held a ceremony to welcome its three millionth foreign tourists on October 21.

The Da Nang Port Joint Stock Company has started operating a new container yard on 37,000sq.m after two years of construction at its Tien Sa Port, providing space for 110,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and increasing capacity at the port.

Chinese-flagged cruise ship Zhao Shang Yi Dun carrying 600 passengers docked at Ha Long International Cruise Port in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh on February 13 (the fourth day of the Lunar New Year)., bringing 600 visitors to the famous tourist destination in the north of Vietnam.

Sixty international cruise ships with a total of some 80,000 passengers aboard have registered to dock at Ha Long International Port in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh this year, according to the provincial Department of Tourism.

The port complex of Cai Mep - Thi Vai in Ba Ria - Vung Tau continually welcomed international cruise ships with thousands of tourists over the past months, a sign of cruise tourism recovery in this southern province and Vietnam at large.

Two cruise ships carrying foreign tourists to Ha Long city of the northern province of Quang Ninh arrived at Hon Gai international port on October 27 morning.

Vietnam has recorded a significant increase in the number of international tourist arrivals by sea since the beginning of this year. This indicates a strong rebound in the maritime tourism market with considerable potential for further development in the coming time.

The central coastal province of Khanh Hoa has taken a wide range of solutions to promote the development of cruise ship tourism – seen as potential and an advantage of the locality.

In its tourism development strategy by 2030, Vietnam identified marine tourism as one of the four main groups of tourism products, but there remains much to be done to fully tap into marine tourism potential.

The number of tourists to the central city of Da Nang in the first three months of this year has recovered to the level recorded in the same period of 2019, the time before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

The volume of international visitors coming to Vietnam by sea in March rose by over 2.8 times compared to the previous month, according statistics of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Since November 1, the government of Thailand has eased travel restrictions by allowing cruise ships and yachts to enter the country.

With cruise ships visiting Ba Ria – Vung Tau having to dock at cargo ports, the southern province plans to build a new facility to serve cruise ships that bring cash-rich tourists to its shores.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) aims to increase yacht tourism from Europe, especially from landlocked Eastern European countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

Vietnam’s sea tourism sector has reported annual growth of only 2 percent to 3 percent, while other Asian countries have witnessed robust growth in cruise tourism in recent years.

Businesses were urged to increase their involvement in addressing environmental challenges caused by the operation of cruise ships in Ha Long Bay during the fifth leadership committee meeting of Ha Long – Cat Ba Alliance in northern Quang Ninh province on March 13.

The number of foreign tourists coming to HCM City on cruise ships remains relatively low because of a lack of ports for cruise ships, according to tourism experts.

The local Song Thu Shipyard Corporation has agreed to cooperate with Vostochnaya Verf shipyard (Primorye), Russia, in the production of cruise ships for tourism development in Vietnam.