Published:  16:59 Wednesday - February 01, 2012

From late October 2011, Quang Ninh tourism is busy with international cruise voyages which continue to dock at Cai Lan and Hon Gai Ports. Together with tourist groups from Europe and the US, the number of tourists from newly-emerging markets in Asia to Ha Long City also saw significant growth that promises to bring a prosperous cruise tourism crop to Quang Ninh. <br>

 From late October 2011, Quang Ninh tourism is busy with international cruise voyages which continue to dock at Cai Lan and Hon Gai Ports. Together with tourist groups from Europe and the US, the number of tourists from newly-emerging markets in Asia to Ha Long Bay also saw significant growth that promises to bring a prosperous cruise tourism crop to Quang Ninh.

In late October and early November 2011, Halong saw the appearance of two high-end cruise ships of Silver Shadow and Legend of the Seas which brought more than 2,000 tourists from Europe and the US to Halong bay. In November 2011, SuperStar Aquarius continued to carry tourists from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) to Halong City with two trips a week. In early 2012, two international cruise ships, namely SuperStar Aquarius and Seabourn Pride also took nearly 2,000 tourists to the coastal city.
According to an assessment of experts in this field, in 2012, the cruiser market will have many changes with a number of tourists from newly-emerging markets such as China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Philippines, especially routes departing from Hong Kong and returning to Hong Kong, of which Halong is a favourite destination of the market. The world’s leading five-star cruise ship will continue to choose Halong cruise as a desination during its route to Vietnam this year, such as Costa Classica, Costa Crociere S.p.A and Discovery.This is a good news for Vietnam tourism.

Although some European countries in 2012 will not possibly recover from the economic downturn that affects the maritime tourist market, experts forecast that cruise ship tourism will continue to be chosen. According to assessment of domestic travel agencies, Halong will be still the top choice of some luxury maritime firms this year.

The Quang Ninh Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism said that in 2012, there will be about 30 cruise ship arrivals to the province. From the beginning of 2012 to April, Tan Hong Travel Company in Quang Ninh will greet about 17 cruise ship arrivals from well-known firms such as Royal Carribean, Silversea Cruise Ltd. and Discovery Cruise Line with an average of 400 tourists for each. After that, from the end of October to December, an additional eight cruise ships will visit the province. These arrivals are from high-end cruise ships of Seaborn Pride, Silver Shadow, Millenium, Minerva and Azamaza.

The total number of maritime tourists to Halong in 2012 is expected to reach 18,000. Together with a regular number of tourists of SuperStar Aquarius, the number of maritime tourists to Quang Ninh will rise sharply this year