Quang Ninh welcomes the first charter ship

On April 30, at Ha Long International Passenger Port, Quang Ninh province organized a program to welcome a group of tourists on the Pacific World cruise ship managed and operated by Peace Boat Company (Japan), bringing about 1,700 tourists (mainly Japanese tourists) to Quang Ninh.

During the cruise, the Pacific World ship departed from Yokohama port (Japan) to a number of ports and tourist destinations, including Ha Long city.

This is also the first time Quang Ninh province has welcomed a group of tourists by cruise ship in the form of a charter (charter for the entire trip) bringing tourists from Japan to Ha Long, opening up opportunities to promote cruise ship routes connecting Japanese ports with Quang Ninh, a positive signal from one of the key international tourist markets of Quang Ninh tourism, a potential market with high-paying customers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh, Vice Chairwoman of the Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee, said: "The Pacific World ship bringing tourists to Quang Ninh for the first time marks an important milestone for the province's tourism industry after the efforts of the government and business community in negotiating, connecting, and preparing carefully and persistently to make Ha Long a regular destination for cruise lines in general and Japan in particular.

To attract international visitors, Quang Ninh tourism industry will promote promotional programs abroad; work and sign cooperation agreements with reputable domestic and foreign travel businesses; organize to welcome international travel business delegations and press to survey and promote Quang Ninh tourism; build tourism programs and product packages to serve customers."

According to the program, tourists on the Pacific World cruise will visit and experience some tourist attractions in Ha Long city and Dong Trieu city including: Ha Long Bay, Provincial Museum, Ha Long I Market, Vincom Plaza Halong, Queen cable car, Yen Duc village and some tourist attractions in Quang Ninh province on April 30.

To welcome the group of tourists on board, especially during peak tourist season, Quang Ninh province has carefully prepared infrastructure, port facilities, and immigration procedures, creating the most favorable conditions for tourists to visit and experience according to schedule.

Mr. Yoshioka Tatsuya, Director of Peace Boat Company (Japan) shared: “I am surprised and happy with the warm welcome of Quang Ninh province. This promises to be a journey full of emotions, happiness and joy. I hope to have many trips back to Ha Long and Vietnam. I also hope that through this journey, the two countries of Vietnam and Japan will become stronger, more peaceful and more developed.”

Ms. MioOta Asonaau, a Japanese tourist, felt happy and surprised by the warm welcome of the Vietnamese people. “The scenery is beautiful and the people are friendly. I will explore many famous tourist attractions in Quang Ninh and share them with everyone at home. After this trip, I hope to return to Vietnam with my friends and relatives.”

With a great competitive advantage in the domestic and regional cruise tourism market share, along with the determination to improve infrastructure, develop specific tourism products for cruise passengers, renew destinations to retain and increase tourist spending, along with promoting and innovating promotional programs abroad; working and signing cooperation agreements with reputable domestic and foreign travel businesses; organizing to welcome domestic and international travel business delegations, KOLs press to survey and promote Quang Ninh tourism; building tourism programs, product packages to serve customers...

Accordingly, Quang Ninh will soon successfully reach the target of attracting 20 million visitors, including about 4.5 million international visitors (in the first 4 months of 2025, the province welcomed about 7.58 million tourists, an increase of 7% over the same period in 2024; of which, the number of international visitors reached nearly 1.6 million; total revenue from tourism is estimated at VND 18,310 billion, an increase of 26% over the same period in 2024), contributing to exceeding the target of the province's GRDP growth of over 14% and the target of the Resolution of the 15th Quang Ninh Provincial Party Congress and welcoming the Party Congresses at all levels.

From 2024 to present, cruise tourism activities in Quang Ninh have shown many signs of improvement, the number of cruise tourists is increasing and becoming more vibrant again. In 2025, it is expected that there will be about 70 cruise ships with nearly 90,000 international tourists from many markets in Europe, America, Australia, Northeast Asia... registered to dock at Ha Long International Passenger Port, an increase of about 30% compared to 2024.

In addition to the luxury cruise ships that have come and returned to Ha Long many times such as: Celebrity Solstice, Mein Schiff 6, Westerdam... this year there are many new cruise ships such as: Brilliant Lady, Luminara, Pacific World... planning to bring tourists to visit and experience destinations in Quang Ninh.

According to the assessment, Quang Ninh has a great competitive advantage in the domestic and regional cruise tourism market share. In recent years, Ha Long has always paid attention to improving infrastructure, developing specific tourism products for cruise passengers; businesses and localities join hands to develop and renew destinations and tourism products to retain and increase tourists' spending./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/quang-ninh-don-chuyen-tau-bien-theo-phuong-thuc-charter-dau-tien-post1035982.vnp