VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City has an interconnecting system of rivers and canals that go through the city and connect HCM City with provinces in the southern region. However, water tourism in the city has not yet developed.
Contemplating while traveling on the river?
There are about 20 tourism ships and canoes operating in the Bach Dang port area in district 1. These include restaurants’ ships that carry tourists to travel on the Saigon River at nights.
In the past, travel firms once provided tours so tourists could travel on the Saigon River and then be dropped in Can Gio district. However, the firms stopped providing the tours because they had so few clients. Nowadays, ships only depart when they can gather enough people.
The activities designed for waterways tourists proved to be very simple. Tourists can have parties on the ships while they travel along the river, or go to Binh Quoi village to watch traditional weddings.
According to Bui Viet Thuy Tien, Managing Director of Asian Trails Company, foreign tourists like traveling on river. However, most of the firm’s waterways tours have been in the Mekong Delta, not in HCM City.
From Cai Be, tourists go to Can Tho City to see the floating market and orchards, or they go farther to Chau Doc and Rach Gia. Meanwhile, in HCM City, the agenda for tourists is very simple: tourists have dinner on ships, travel along the Saigon River, and then at departure time prepare to return to Bach Dang wharf.
When tourists demand it, the firm will charter a ship for half a day to carry tourists. Meanwhile, tourists only sit on the ships to enjoy the view of the banks of the river, and then return to the departure point.
“Tourists nowadays do only one thing – sit and look into the banks of the river. Honestly, there are fewer beautiful and attractive landscapes on the river banks,” Tien said.
Chiem Thanh Long, Director of Binh Quoi Tourism Village, said Binh Quoi has five ships and one canoe. “Previously, many tourists chartered ships to go on sightseeing tours, but the number of clients has decreased significantly recently, because there has been nothing new and interesting to see on the tours,” Long said.
“In 1995-1998, there were the tours to Bien Hoa and Lai Thieu, but the service provider has given up on the tours, because the sightseeing locations on the river bank have disappeared ,” he said.
However, Long still believes that HCM City has great potential to develop its waterways tourism industry, and that if the city’s authorities pay attention to developing tourism, the investment will bring a big boost to the economy.
How to develop waterways tourism?
The HCM City People’s Committee has approved a plan by the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Department to develop the waterways tourism industry. The city’s authorities have asked the department to develop a route connecting An Giang and Cambodia. The department is also considering developing short-distance tours (Bach Dang wharf – Nha Be T-junction – painters’ village; Bach Dang wharf – Tau Hu canal).
However, according to tourism companies, the biggest problem facing the waterways tourism industry is the lack of docks where ships can receive clients.
Binh Quoi Tourism Village once planned on having more ships, but then it had to cancel its plans because the Bach Dang dock was already full.
Long stressed that the first thing that needs to be done is to build docks where ships can receive clients. After that, travel firms will think of developing their fleets and cooperating with service providers.
Source: Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon | 
