HCM City Welcomes Thousands of Sea Travelers Early April

Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest city of Vietnam greeted around 14,000 passengers and sailors on two five-star cruise ships from April 5-6, bringing the total number of tourists on cruises to the city from the beginning of this year to more than 5,000.

 

On April 5 alone, the Tan Hong Tourism Company received a US five-star cruise ship, the Nautca, with nearly 600 passengers, mostly American, at the Saigon Port.

 

A day later, more than 800 passengers and sailors on the five-star cruise ship, Super Star Gemini, owned by Australia’s Star Cruises also docked at the Port, marking Star Cruises’ return to the country for the first time after shunning it due to bird flu epidemics over the past two years.

 

The visitors stayed in Ho Chi Minh City for two days and visit My Tho city, Cu Chi tunnels, the War Remnants Museum, Ben Thanh Market and other tourist staples.

 

There were also recent visits to the biggest city by 550 German visitors and some 600 Americans on cruises.

 

According to the leading travel firm Saigontourist Deputy Director Vu Duy Vu, cruise ships of the Star Cruises Company have returned to Vietnam after a two-year break. From now to the year’s end, Star Cruises will come to Vietnam another 15 times, bringing more than 10,000 travelers.

 

The company has so far received an inflow of international tourists traveling to Ho Chi Minh City by sea, an official from the company said, adding that tens of international cruise ships docked at the Saigon port since the beginning of this year.

 

Saigontourist has plans to host over 3,000 visitors by sea from the UK, Germany, Australia, the US, Singapore, and Hong Kong by the end of April.

 

Ho Chi Minh City welcomed 630,000 foreign visitors in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent, fulfilling 27.4 percent of the whole year's target.

 

Among them, the number of tourists to the metropolis city by air was 566,000, up 5 per cent on-year. Those to the city by other travel means were 64,000, an increase of 30 per cent over the same period last year.