The passengers, mainly from France, the UK and Greece, are scheduled to visit several beauty spots in the city and Ha Noi.

Director of the Hai Phong Tourism JSC Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa said her company expects to welcome two more five-star cruise ships this month.

In the first 10 months of 2014, the northern port city served 4.16 million tourists, up 7.15 percent against the same period last year, of which 437,800 were foreigners. Revenue from tourism services hit 1.68 trillion VND (79 million USD), a year-on-year rise of 7.93 percent.

For the rest of the year, the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will intensify tourism promotion activities, organise visits to study other markets, and step up cooperation programmes with other localities in the region to attract more tourists, especially foreigners.