Singapore keen on cruise ports

News - Singapore tourism officials and entrepreneurs, after their fact-finding trips to some southern provinces early this month, have shown interest in cruise port development.

Saigon port in HCMC and An Thoi port on Phu Quoc Island off mainland Kien Giang Province are seen as suitable locations for developing ports of call for cruise ships, a local official quoted the Singapore delegates as saying.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Travel Department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said the delegates from Singapore Tourism Board, Royal Caribbean International, and KOP Group had toured ports in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, HCMC, Nha Trang (in central Vietnam) and Phu Quoc, and met with port developers there.

They said a number of operational ports in Ba Ria-Vung Tau were not fit for cruise vessels but Saigon Port and An Thoi were. “We’re not talking about a wharf for cruise ships but a hub for such vessels. That’s why they are interested in ports in HCMC and Phu Quoc,” he said.

According to him, the Singaporeans said Navi Oil and Lotus ports in District 7 of HCMC were not ideally located as it took visitors time to travel from there to the city center and tourist attractions. For An Thoi port, they suggested the local government reserve the current An Thoi fish port, then develop it into a fish market for tourists to see.

“The local government needs to care about just sanitation. It will become a unique site for tourists along with other landscapes on the island. An Thoi is also the suitable location for cruise ships active on international sea routes,” Tuan said.

He said the survey results would be presented at a meeting of the Vietnam-Singapore Tourism Cooperation Joint Committee late this year.

This is the second visit to Vietnam by the Singaporean tourism experts and businesspeople since the country’s tourism authority asked for support from Singapore as the region’s cruise hub.

Last year, Danang’s Tien Sa port was selected as the best location for cruise vessels in the region after the group toured seaports in Danang, Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue on the central coast. The two sides continued their cooperation after the trip with the signing of a deal between Vietnam’s Danang Port One-Member Limited Company and Singapore Cruise Center Pte Ltd.

International visitors to Vietnam by sea account for 5-6% of the total number of foreign arrivals in the country in 1997-2008, but the number is on the decline because large international cruise ships must anchor at cargo ports in Vietnam due to lack of port infrastructure.