City expected to start development project of waterway tourism

The Ho Chi Minh City's administration has made many surveys on waterway tourism to create an appealing tourist attraction. However, the project is still on paper. Meanwhile, travel companies are impatient to create a new service to attract visitors.
There are some short river tours and restaurant boats being operated by travel companies on the Saigon Rivers.
Tours including Hoa Si (Painter) village (near Phu My Bridge in District 2)-Nha Be crossroad-District 2 and Ben Nghe-Tau Hu canal will are ready to go into operation, according to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Medium and long-distant routes to neighboring provinces likely Dong Nai, Binh Duong and the Mekong Delta region will be launched in near future.
The city will also develop river bus services to reduce traffic jams. Experts said that using bus river service would reduce commutes by approximately 40 percent.
The city also lacks a pier system. The Bach Dang Quay is considered as an ideal place, but it can not be enlarged to become a tourist pier because of the urban architecture planning. In addition, not any boat can be anchored in the quay if they have not got any permission of the governing body. Large cruise ships have berths on a port of discharge in District 7.
HCM City has great potential to develop its waterways tourism industry, but it should develop various products to meet the demand for this special tourist type and also facilities like a fully worked-out waterway network, boats, harbors, and stopovers for tourists.