Halong International Cruise Port help boost tourism

Ha Long International Cruise Port (Quang Ninh Province) is the only specialized port in Vietnam to receive passenger ships and super yachts from around the world. This is also a chosen destination for international cruise lines, contributing to marking Vietnam on the world cruise map.

Possessing Ha Long Bay with beautiful landscapes and synchronous development of tourism infrastructure, for many years Ha Long has become an attractive destination for millions of international tourists every time they come to Vietnam.

In particular, Ha Long Bay has also become an indispensable name in the list of destinations of travel companies around the world.

The increasing number of tourists coming to Ha Long is a good sign for the tourism industry of this province, but many difficulties also arise from this.

According to the tourism industry of Quang Ninh province, due to the lack of a dedicated port, international passenger ships arriving in Ha Long are forced to anchor far from shore, and passengers are basically transported to shore through the tender system, so the number of passengers per trip is limited. This limitation makes tourists feel uncomfortable and unsafe after a long journey at sea.

Besides, the infrastructure for welcoming cruise ship passengers is still rudimentary, and the reception of cruise ship passengers is arranged by the travel agencies themselves, so it does not really create a good impression on tourists, especially those coming to Ha Long for the first time.

The above situation, along with the goal of striving by 2020, Quang Ninh will become a service - industrial province with international stature; a driving force of the Northern key economic region, the Northern coastal economic belt, the Northern coastal region... - the idea of a specialized port was formed and quickly implemented by Quang Ninh province.

Quang Ninh Province has sought the assistance of the Central Government in parallel with the use of internal resources to synchronously invest in infrastructure, connecting traffic infrastructure as well as flexible incentive policies. At the same time, it has emphasized the task of developing and supporting businesses, concretizing actions and development orientations to attract investors to join and remove bottlenecks. With that approach, in a short time, Sun Group has become the official investor of Ha Long International Passenger Port.

Ha Long International Passenger Port will also be a place to introduce, display and promote unique tourism products of Quang Ninh, providing convenient services for tourists.

The port was officially put into operation, welcoming the first ship named Celebrity Millennium of the American Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, departing from Hong Kong, bringing more than 2,000 passengers and nearly 1,000 crew members of many nationalities to Ha Long on November 27, 2018.

This is also a highlight for tourists when visiting Ha Long and also a good sign for the Quang Ninh tourism industry, marking an important milestone, opening new spaces for cooperation, tourism development, and international economy.

Many international tourists when coming to Ha Long also highly appreciated and were impressed with this project. Especially the thoughtful and warm welcome right from the moment they set foot on the port.

Having a specialized port, along with efforts to improve infrastructure, develop specific tourism products for cruise passengers, renew destinations; innovate promotional programs abroad; work and sign cooperation agreements with reputable domestic and foreign travel businesses; organize to welcome delegations of domestic and international travel businesses and KOLs to survey and promote Quang Ninh tourism; build tourism programs and product packages to serve customers... have helped cruise tourism activities in Quang Ninh increasingly flourish.

In 2025, the tourism industry of Quang Ninh province is expected to have about 70 cruise ships with nearly 90,000 international tourists from many markets in Europe, America, Australia, Northeast Asia... registered to dock at Ha Long International Passenger Port, an increase of about 30% compared to 2024.

In addition to the luxury cruise ships that have come and returned to Ha Long many times, such as: Celebrity Solstice, Mein Schiff 6, Westerdam..., this year there are many new cruise ships such as: Brilliant Lady, Luminara, Pacific World... with plans to bring tourists to visit and experience destinations in Quang Ninh.

Since the beginning of 2025, Quang Ninh has welcomed 28 cruise ships with over 41,100 tourists. This is the result of the proactive efforts of the Quang Ninh Tourism Industry to connect and work with cruise lines, with innovative policies, creating favorable conditions to attract this special stream of tourists.

It is forecasted that in the following years, the number of cruise ship passengers to Ha Long will increase by about 15-20% with the regular appearance of major cruise lines.

It can be said that Quang Ninh province is increasingly asserting its great competitive advantage in the domestic and regional cruise tourism market share. This shows that the goal of attracting 20 million visitors, including about 4.5 million international visitors, contributing to exceeding the province's GRDP growth target of over 14% will certainly be realized.

Halong Travel Tour agency offers packages for Halong Bay, Lan Ha Bay, and Cat Ba Island, with options for different durations and cruise lines. A platform that lists various Halong Bay cruises with reviews, allowing for easy comparison