Bad transport infrastructure hinders central region tourism

Most of the provinces in the central region have airports and seaports, but foreigners who want to visit sites or stay in resorts there must still take roundabout routes, according to Tuoi Tre.
Hong Kong to Da Nang: nine hours!
It took the family of a European businessman, coming for a holiday at the posh Nam Hai resort near Hoi An town, nine hours to get there from Hong Kong because their flight from HCM City to Da Nang was delayed.
Herbert Pichler, the five star resort’s general director, says that’s not unusual. Though from Da Nang’s airport, visitors can reach the nearby strip of beach resorts in a matter of minutes, the air routes to Vietnam’s central region are inconvenient. Foreign tourists typically complain that it took them ‘too much time’ to get to the Nam Hai, and ask why there aren’t direct international flights to Da Nang.
A number of carriers tried to open international air routes to Da Nang, but they have given up. Now there’s left only Silk Air, providing four flights a week from Singapore via Siem Reap (Cambodia) and China Southern Airlines flying twice a week from Guangzhou.
The Middle Airports Corporation reports that revenues from international flights to Da Nang Airport accounts for only ten to fifteen percent of the airport’s revenue. International airlines hesitate to open air routes to Da Nang though they’ve been offered many preferences.
Vitours is Danang’s top travel agency. Deputy General Director Cao Tri Dung calls organizing direct flights to Da Nang the key to developing the tourism industry in the nation’s central region. Dung urges a focus on four markets: South East Asia, China-Hong Kong, North East Asia (Korea and Japan) and Scandinavia.
“Among the 40,000 travelers Vitours serves every year, there are about 15,000 foreign travelers. Of the latter, not more than thirty percent arrive here by international air,” Dung said, stressing that if more routes were opened, the number of foreign tourists would increase.
Cargo-handling seaports do not like cruise ships
The central coast still has no seaports that specialize in receiving cruises. Cruise ships must dock at cargo ports like Chan May near Hue or Tien Sa port in Da Nang City.
Nguyen Huu Sia, Deputy General Director of Da Nang Port, says the number of cruise ship visits has been increasing by ten to fifteen percent year on year, mostly carrying US and European tourists. Travel firms tell him the figure is modest, far less than the great potentials of the central region deserve.
To attract more foreign tourists to the central region in the short term, Sia favors upgrading port services and reducing fees that now are higher than in nearby countries. Some kinds of fees ought to be lowered by thirty to fifty percent, he says. In the longer term, it’s essential to have one or more ports that specialize in receiving tourists.
Tourists shrink at overland travel
Nguyen Phuc Linh, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the city has spent trillions of dong to upgrade the coastal road, considering this a driver for tourism growth.
The city now has excellent road links to Hoi An and Hue. These provide access to many more potential resort sites.
However, Dinh Van Thu, Deputy Chairman of Quang Nam province, calls the transport system “still weak.” The Da Nang – Quang Ngai Highway and the coastal road linking Thua Thien-Hue to Binh Dinh have been only slowly implemented due to a lack of capital, he says.
Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An are the three most popular destinations for foreign tourists on the central coast, and it is most convenient to travel by land between these places. However, many tourists complain about the itineraries they are offered.
Tourists lambasted the bad service of a Hue to Hoi An tour provided by a local travel firm that Tuoi Tre reporters joined. Participants were informed that they would depart at 1.30 pm, but in fact they didn’t leave until 2.15 pm. On the way, the bus stopped at a small restaurant where there was neither a sit down toilet or running water. The tourists only arrived in Hoi An ancient town at 8 pm in the evening.