According to Thuy, changing the colour of the bay’s tourist boats into white was one of the necessary moves to improve local tourism and create a “new face” for Ha Long Bay.
However, the province didn’t mean to set white as a uniform colour for local tourist boats, so it didn’t regulate how much white the boats need to be, she said, adding that local businesses can devise their own styles.
Doan Van Dung, chief the Association for Ha Long Tourist Boats, which previously sent a letter to the provincial authorities to express its disagreement on the decision, told VnExpress that the new decision has relieved local businesses from difficulties.
They are now not facing the financial burden of following the authorities’ order, because it would have cost them tens of millions of dong to repaint their boats and been a time consuming process as well, Dung said.
It is not as difficult to repaint just a few details, in terms of cost and time, according to Dung.
“Brown is still the main colour; white is only added as a decoration,” he said.
But, Dung also said that since the colour of Ha Long Bay’s boats is the image of tourism and the country so every change needs to be considered.
To create a synchronised brand name for the boats, local authorities need to consider more carefully what percentage of a boat needs to be in white, Dung said.
On January 5, the Quang Ninh People’s Committee asked all boats in the bay to be painted white, saying failure to follow the order by April 30 will result in revocation of operating licenses.
Authorities said the move was aimed to tighten government control over tourist transport, and to renovate the image of local tourist boats after the bay was named on the preliminary list of seven new natural wonders of the world by the Switzerland-based New7Wonders Foundation last November.
However, soon after the order was made, local businesses objected to it saying it would cost them too much, while tourists said local authorities should focus on improving services instead of changing the unique brown colour of local boats.
