Phan Xuan Anh, chairman of Viet Excursions, said cruise lines from the U.S. and Europe are promoting new destinations in Asia, including Vietnam. Therefore, the company has recorded a rise of 1.5 times in the number of orders for the tourism season from November 2012 to April 2013, the best growth so far.

Viet Excursions not only caters to cruise ships arriving in Vietnam, but also those visiting Cambodia. From Cambodia, tourists can take chartered flights to Thailand, and then travel to Singapore.

Meanwhile, Saigontourist estimated the company would welcome 130,000 international cruise tourists this year, rising 25-30% against 2011. Along with the cruise ships coming from Asian countries, Saigontourist is receiving cruise ships from Europe and many international river cruise ships.

In the next tourism season, from November 2012 to March 2013, Saigontourist will welcome some 80,000 tourist arrivals, mostly those coming from China on cruise ships operated by StarCruises.

Cruise tourism in Southeast Asia begins to boom. Large cruise ships in the world have made presence in the region, dropping anchors in Singapore, one of the regional countries with strength in cruise tourism.

This is informed in a press release of the division for ASEAN cruise tourism under ASEAN Tourism on the occasion of the two-day conference Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific opening on Monday in Singapore.

Large cruise ships such as Costa Deliziosa of Costa Cruises, or those operated by Royal Caribbean and Voyager of the Seas choose Singapore as the main port from now to 2013. Other ships of Costa Cruises and those of StarCruises have already chosen Singapore as the main port.

They are also expanding the port network into Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Penang, and Malacca in Malaysia; Bangkok, Phuket, and Koh Samui in Thailand; Bali and Komodo in Indonesia; and HCMC, Danang and Halong Bay in Vietnam.