Nha Trang bustling to welcome cruise tourists

From the end of 2023 until now, Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa has welcomed nearly 10,000 cruise tourists. This proves that the cruise tourist market is resuming and promises to continue to grow strongly.

On the morning of January 4, the cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas (Bahamian nationality) brought nearly 4,400 guests to Nha Trang on a journey to visit Vietnam. Tourists from Europe, America... are very interested in visiting traditional crafts and enjoying traditional musical instruments in Truong Son Craft Village. Many tourists are also excited to dancing and playing the stone instrument. Some cruise tourists also visited the Museum of Oceanography to listen to sea stories and know about Vietnam's sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos...

Spectrum of the Seas ship on Nha Trang Bay on January 4. Photo: Quoc Bao

Previously, on December 29 and 31, 2023, the cruise ships Celebrity Solstice (Malta) and Westerdam (Dutch) respectively brought more than 5,000 international tourists to the coastal city. The cruise tourists took a tour of Nha Trang by cyclo, learned cooking at Dua Moc restaurant (Vinh Ngoc commune, Nha Trang), visited Ponagar Tower, Long Son pagoda, Dam market, Xom Moi market, and took photos at Nha Trang Cathedral. "Tourists are very satisfied because the weather in Nha Trang these days is very beautiful, the city has many destinations with traditional culture and beautiful beaches", said Le Huu Phuc, a tour guide.

Tourists go around Nha Trang by cyclo.

Continuous arrivals of cruise ship to Nha Trang are a positive signal for the recovery and development of cruise tourism activities in Vietnam in general and Khanh Hoa in particular. According to information from Nha Trang Port Joint Stock Company, from now until the end of January, there will be 5 more cruise ships taking tourists to Nha Trang. In particular, the ship Celebrity Solstice carried about 2,800 visitors, the Norwegian Jewel ship (Bahamian nationality) carried 2,600 visitors, and the Diamond Princess ship (British nationality) carried 2,000 visitors. In particular, in mid-March, the ship Queen Mary II (one of the world's largest cruise ships) will also bring about 4,500 tourists to Nha Trang.

Cruise tourists play stone instrument at Truong Son Craft Village.

Nguyen Thi Le Thanh - Director of the Department of Tourism said that up to now, cruise ship welcoming companies have registered to welcome more than 40 international cruise ships. With experience in recent years, the province's tourism industry is ready to welcome a large number of international cruise passengers in 2024.

Cruise passengers visit Truong Son Craft Village.

Cruise tourists at the Oceanography Museum

 
Bui Minh Thang - Director of Phuong Thang Services - Tourism and Trading Company Limited, a unit with experience in welcoming cruise tourists, said that Vietnam is a great attraction for cruise ship tourists. Large cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean International, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises... like to bring tourists to Vietnam. Currently, major tourist destinations compete to welcome this high-end tourist stream because in addition to direct profits, it also has great significance in marketing. 

Thanh Nguyen
Translated by T.T