According to the plan, a floating market will be developed near the Tan Thuan Bridge which will open every weekend, allowing tourists to explore and learn about the lives and culture of local people. Meanwhile, additional sports and entertainment activities will be launched at sites along the river to offer more experiences for visitors. Tourists can visit surrounding historical sites and traditional craft villages during day tours using small wooden boats. There will also be waterway tours to the neighbouring provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre, which are popular destinations of the Mekong Delta Region. In addition, the department will build a community-based tourism model to facilitate a tour to the Can Gio District.
The HCM City Department of Tourism aims to serve some 1.50 million visitors and earn VND 3 trillion via waterways by 2025, achieving an average increase of between 10–15% in the following years.
The city tourism industry has already launched several river tours connecting several districts, including Bach Dang, District 7, District 9, Cu Chi, and Can Gio.
In May this year, the city launched a cruise tour along the Sai Gon River, allowing visitors panoramic views of both sides of the city as well as architectural features of the rapidly growing urban metropolis. The new tour has the involvement of many companies who are looking to tap into the waterway tourism potential.
Director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, said that the topic of one of their orientations was to develop a variety of city tours on the road, in the air, on the water, and on the metro.
‘The tours to see HCM City from the Sai Gon River are attracting both domestic and international tourists, especially [from] the middle and high-class segments’, she said.
Nguyen Minh Man, the director of Communications-Marketing of the TST Tourist company, also stressed that boat tours have great potential to attract customers.
‘People have wanted to cruise along the Sai Gon River for a long time, so the introduction of luxury tours will meet this demand’, he added.
