This year, more than 34,000 international cruise holiday-makers landed in Chan May port to visit Hue’s imperial sites in the central province of Thua Thien–Hue.
According to Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Phan Tien Dung, a large number of tourists arrived in the locality on the US’ Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ five-star ship Celebrity Millennium. The 91,000t ship has scheduled a total of eight arrivals in the port for 2014.
To optimise the port’s potential, local authorities are working with relevant units to bring the harbour in line with international standards.
In addition, investments were made to improve the quality and range of services on offer, as well as promoting the port and locality at domestic and foreign tourism fairs in a bid to attract more tourists.
In a workshop on Viet Nam’s development strategy for its cruise industry, held as part of the Festival Hue 2014 in April, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines pledged to implement infrastructure development projects in Chan May port. The firm aims to bring around 25,000 tourists to Hue each year.
Chan May port is one of 46 stopovers for cruise liners in Southeast Asia. It lies along the sea route that connects Singapore, the Philippines and Hong Kong. The port is also a key stopover for ships visiting destinations in Hue and the central City of Da Nang.
Due to its advantageous location, it has the potential to be developed into a port specialising in cruises.
At present, Chan May port can welcome vessels of up to 30,000 DWT and large international cruise ships with a capacity of 3,000 passengers.