VNAT urged to tighten control over waterway tourism

A lot of troubles occurring recently with Vietnam’s waterway tourism have badly influenced Vietnamese tourism brand. Meanwhile, state management agencies still do not know from where they should start to settle the current problems.
Over 79 percent of operational ships and boats unlicensed
A report by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on the performance of the means of inland waterway tourism in central provinces and cities, shows that there are 11,299 means that get involved in the tourism industry.
These include 183 accommodation facilities, 11,052 transport means and 64 floating restaurants. They are mostly located in Quang Binh province (18) and Hanoi (10), Hai Phong (10) and HCM City (9).
Meanwhile, accommodation facilities mostly gather at Ha Long Bay in Quang NInh province (150), and in Tuyen Quang, Can Tho, Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong and Hai Phong.
The current regulations do not clearly stipulate the difference between the vehicles used for carrying normal passengers and the vehicles for carrying tourists, which has made it difficult for management agencies to take control over the vehicles.
The biggest problem is that the number of ships and boats which have been operational without license has become alarming high; 9013 our of the existing 11.299 vehicles, accounting for 79.7 percent. Meanwhile, only 1757 vehicles have been registered and licensed. This has been cited as the main reason behind the continuous violations in the waterway tourism business recently.
According to Tran Ky Hinh, Deputy Head of the Vietnam Register, the number of registered vehicles released by VNAT, based on the reports by local authorities, proves to be inaccurate.
Also according to Hinh, the ships and boats with the capacity of less than five horse power do not have to register with the Vietnam Register, but they just need to go through business registration to become operational. “As such, at least more than 4000 boats that carry passengers at Huong Pagoda do not have to register. Meanwhile, the boats might have been reported as unlicensed vehicles,” Hinh explained.
Hinh has also given the figures which are quite different from the figures released by the VNAT. He believes that 33,000 vehicles that carry passengers have been registered, including 172 accommodation vehicles, 64 floating houses, 1986 vehicles that provide services per hours. “Only 2112 vehicles which have been asked to have the designs suitable to serve tourism services and need to be registered as per the current laws,” he said.
Explain the gaps between the figures; Hinh said that it is because there has been no clear differentiation between the vehicles that carry normal passengers, and the ones that carry tourists.
In general, both passenger and tourist carrying boats must meet the requirements on technical conditions. However, the ships designed to serve the tourism always have other interior requirements which are not subject to the registration.
The registration of vehicles only depends on the scale and the tonnage of vehicles, and of course, on technical safety, while not depending on the facts if the vehicles are used to serve in tourism.
“There has been no regulation which clearly stipulates which kinds of ships are allowed to serve in tourism. The vehicles registered as carrying passengers automatically can be used to serve the tourism. As such, there is no clear legal framework for management,” he said.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
Experts have pointed out that the waterway tourism could be more strictly managed if VNAT gives ranking to vehicles. In fact, the standards for ranking accommodation ships which has been compiled by VNAT since 2009 have not been completed because they have got stuck at relevant ministries.
For the time being, two serious accidents with Truong Hai and Din Ky tourism ships.
According to Hinh, the biggest problem now is the bad cooperation among management agencies. “For example, in licensing the boats to operate in Cat Ba, both the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of National Defense have the rights to grant licenses,” he said.