Tourism biggies ready for peak cruise season

      The cruise season will peak this month welcoming an influx of international tourists.
Tan Hong Travel Company in the central city of Da Nang said 12 cruise ships were about to berth at Vietnamese ports bringing a total of about 16,500 tourists.
Each ship would stay between one and three days, the company said. The firm said on some days two or more cruise liners would be docking.
On March 13, the Queen Victoria and Seven Seas Voyager cruise ships, carrying 2,700 visitors, will dock at Nha Trang resort town and the Chan May Port in the central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Thua Thien Hue respectively.
Four days later, the Arcadia and Tahitian Princess will arrive in Ho Chi Minh City.
Within 24 hours, three more international cruise ships Balmoral, Diamond Princess, and Seabourn Spirit will arrive, carrying 4,300 foreign tourists, first in HCMC, Nha Trang, and Cai Lan Port in the northern Quang Ninh Province.
Tan Hong also said it would welcome some 10,500 visitors between April and July with 8,150 arriving in April.
The high season for cruise tourism in Vietnam normally starts in September and ends in April the next year.
Two companies, Saigontourist and Tan Hong Travel Company, hold the lion share of the market.
The HCMC based group received some 120,000 cruise tourists last year while Tan Hong had 30,000.
Saigontourist said it was prepared for the high numbers, adding that there was a rise in tourism from Europe, China and Hong Kong contributing to the 30 percent year-on-year increase in arrivals.
On January 27, it welcomed 1,600 tourists when two five-star Costa Allegra ships docked at Da Nang Port.
Around 157,000 cruise tourists visited Vietnam last year.