At exactly 7:00 a.m., the Blue Dream Melody cruise ship from Beihai (China) arrived at Ha Long International Passenger Port with more than 1,100 tourists.
At Ha Long International Cruise Port, leaders of the People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province warmly welcomed the first guests to Ha Long on the new sea route.
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Leaders of Quang Ninh Province welcome the tourists and crew of the Blue Dream Melody cruise ship arriving in Ha Long City. |
Director of Quang Ninh Department of Tourism Nguyen Huyen Anh shared that the two localities have discussed and worked closely to build a new route connecting Beihai with Ha Long. The Quang Ninh Department of Tourism delegation went directly to Beihai and experienced the cruise to Ha Long. On that basis, the two sides will evaluate and gradually improve the quality of services, moving towards building a regular operating route for an attractive tour connecting these two localities.
The Blue Dream Melody ship will anchor at Ha Long International Passenger Port until 6:00 p.m. on the same day for tourists to visit Ha Long Bay and Ha Long City as well as some other famous tourist destinations in Quang Ninh. A second cruise ship from Bac Hai is expected to come to Ha Long on November 18.
Director of Ha Long International Cruise Port Pham Van Hiep said this is a good opportunity to promote tourism. We hope the two sides will exploit the advantages of sea transport to encourage tourism growth for both localities, which have their own strengths. New market expansion is also a positive signal that international tourists travelling by sea in 2024 and the following years will recover strongly.
According to the Quang Ninh Department of Tourism, the two sides have designed a more diverse travel schedule for visitors from China to Vietnam departing from Beihai City in 2025. In addition to allocating a stop at Ha Long while visiting Quang Ninh, the schedule will be longer so that visitors can explore the beauty of other famous tourist destinations in Vietnam, such as Da Nang and Hue. It is expected that during the peak period of November 2025, there will be 3 Beihai-Ha Long cruises per week.
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Leaders of Quang Ninh Province and the Department of Tourism take souvenir photos with tourists. |
Previously, the Beihai-Ha Long cruise route had been in operation for 10 years, starting in 1998 to connect one of the ten most beautiful cities in China with the heritage city of Ha Long. However, this cruise route was later suspended.
The reopening of this cruise is a concrete activity to implement the minutes of the spring 2024 meeting between the Provincial Party Committees of Ha Giang, Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Party Committee to specify the cooperation content within the framework of the 15th Joint Working Committee Conference in 2025 and the cooperation documents between Quang Ninh (Vietnam) and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (China).
This event is of special significance to the tourism industry and the two localities. The port in Beihai has had modern upgrades and is expanding to connect cruise tourism routes, especially international routes. In Quang Ninh, Ha Long International Passenger Port is a favourite destination of many cruise lines with a synchronous and modern infrastructure.
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Tourists are warmly welcomed when arriving in Ha Long, Quang Ninh. |
Invested and built by Sun Group, Ha Long International Passenger Port has a modern international wharf capable of receiving ships with a capacity of up to 225,000 GRT, serving two vessels consecutively, with a capacity of nearly 10,000 passengers. This is the only specialised port in Vietnam to receive world super cruises and yachts and is a favourite destination for international cruise routes, contributing to marking Vietnam on the world cruise map. Therefore, successfully connecting the cruise route between the two localities will open up an extremely potential tourism market.
The 2024 cruise season started in October, with many international super cruise ships bringing tourists from Asia, Europe, and America to Ha Long. With positive movements and new international routes, it is expected to contribute to realising the goal of welcoming 3.5 million international visitors to Quang Ninh in 2024.
