Cruise market lights up Ho Chi Minh City's night economy

Photo caption — REVER Cruise is 120m long, has an area of 10,000m² and can accommodate 1,288 guests.

The boom of 4-5 star cruise ships

Recently, REVER Cruise was launched at Saigon Port - Nha Rong Wharf, marking an important development step in the culinary and entertainment cruise segment in Ho Chi Minh City. With a length of 120m, an area of 10,000m² and a capacity of 1,288 guests, REVER Cruise is considered one of the largest cruise ships operating on the Saigon River.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Dong Quan, Head of Tourism Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism emphasized: "The launch of REVER Cruise has contributed to diversifying tourism products, promoting the night economy and high-quality tourism in the city".

1-2 months before, a number of new yachts and vehicles were also opened and put into operation on the Saigon River, notably Elite of Saigon - a high-end culinary yacht line that has expanded its dinner party categories and performance space to suit corporate and international guests. In addition, King Yacht - the largest composite yacht in Vietnam also increased the frequency of operating sunset tours, private parties and small events, contributing to enriching the choice of night experiences on the Saigon River.

In the mass-market product group, the Saigon Waterbus double-decker river bus was put into operation in early 2024, attracting a large number of visitors and check-ins, especially in the afternoon and evening. This service has become one of the new waterway products with strong influence on young customers.

Notably, the market also has long-range connecting routes such as the Thang Long super high-speed train from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao, contributing to expanding the city's maritime operations. In 2025, the international cruise ship Star Scorpio (capacity of 1,800 passengers) has also officially chosen Vietnam as its departure port, bringing the opportunity to sharply increase the number of international visitors using the night service before - after the trip.

According to market research firm Statista, the revenue of Vietnam’s yacht market in 2025 is estimated at 7.31 million USD, expected to increase to 10.61 million USD in 2030, with a compound growth rate of 7.75%/year. Compared to the size of the global yacht market of 8.74 billion USD, Vietnam is still far from its real potential.

In Ho Chi Minh City alone, in the first 10 months of 2025, it welcomed more than 6.5 million international visitors, 33 million domestic visitors and tourism revenue reached 208,000 billion VND, equivalent to 72% of the yearly plan. Of which, the number of waterway passengers increased by 10 - 15% after the merger. These figures show that waterway tourism and the cruise market are fully capable of becoming one of the important growth drivers of the urban night economy in the period 2025 - 2030.

New impetus for urban night economy

Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that current tourism products are not diverse enough to retain tourists and make them come back many times. Therefore, promoting the development of the night economy, in which waterway tourism plays a key role, will help consolidate the city's position as a dynamic, modern and unique destination.

“Ho Chi Minh City needs more night-time products with in-depth experiences, of which cruises are a type suitable for the urban landscape and the needs of international tourists,” Ms. Hoa emphasized.

Along with the boom of 4-5 star cruise ships, waterway tourism is becoming one of the important driving forces to promote the night economy in Ho Chi Minh City. Culinary products, entertainment and events on the river often operate from 6pm to 10pm, helping to prolong the experience of tourists and increase the average spending, in line with the orientation of shifting to a high-value tourism model.

According to the plan to develop waterway tourism products for the period 2023 - 2025, the City aims to add 5 - 10 new products, increasing the number of river passengers by 10 - 15%, and at the same time turning inter-ward and inter-regional waterway routes into typical products. In this ecosystem, 5-star cruises are considered a product group with strong influence, due to the ability to integrate many types of culinary, entertainment, event and cultural services in the same journey.

However, Mr. Tran Ngoc Dong Quan said that to create a classy experience, we must solve the problem of parking and develop products with cultural and historical depth. Only then can river tourism become a pillar of the night economy.

In fact, in recent years, the route of Ben Bach Dang - Nha Rong - Ba Son - Landmark 81 has become the "nightscape axis" of the city, attracting a large number of tourists every night. Dinner parties, live music, art performances or sunset tours are gradually forming new habits of both domestic and international visitors.

In the long-term orientation, the City aims to develop expanded waterways through the Thu Duc, Can Gio, and Cu Chi areas (old); research overnight cruise products and exploit routes with cultural and historical themes such as riverside heritage routes or traditional craft village routes. Floating market tours recreated in inter-ward canal areas are also among the product groups oriented by the Department of Tourism in the coming period, aiming to create a diverse and in-depth night-time economic ecosystem.

According to Mr. Quan, in order to develop sustainably, the City must simultaneously solve the problem of wharf infrastructure and innovate product quality. Because without standard wharfs, businesses will find it difficult to expand their scale, and river tourism will not be able to make a breakthrough. Only when infrastructure is improved and products continue to innovate, will Ho Chi Minh City have the conditions to position river tourism as a distinctive brand and an important growth driver of the night-time economy in the period of 2025 - 2030.

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