Cruise ship Blue Dream Melody brings 1,100 Chinese tourists to Ha Long

This sea voyage marks an important revival in the connection between Beihai City and Ha Long City after a long period of interruption.

Upon arrival, the visitors spent time exploring Ha Long Bay and Ha Long City, as well as other famous tourist sites in Quang Ninh, before departing back to Guangxi at 6p.m. on the same day.

The second cruise from Beihai is expected to return to Ha Long on November 18.

Nguyen Lam Nguyen, deputy director of the Quang Ninh Tourism Department, said reviving this maritime tourism route was a significant effort by both Quang Ninh and Guangxi, representing a new phase in cooperation between the two sides, creating new tourist sources through new routes.

According to Nguyen, Ha Long is an attractive destination for cruise tourists. In the future, the Tourism Department and relevant provincial agencies will collaborate with partners and businesses to enable Vietnamese tourists to experience traveling to China by sea, increasing the flow of visitors between the two regions and contributing to the development of tourism products.

To maintain cruise tourism, both sides are designing more diverse itineraries for tourists traveling from China to Vietnam, starting from Beihai in 2025. The plans will extend beyond Ha Long to include famous tourist destinations in Vietnam, such as Da Nang and Hue.

It is anticipated that during the peak season in November 2025, there will be three weekly cruises between Beihai and Ha Long.

Previously, the Beihai-Ha Long maritime tourism route operated for 10 years, starting in 1998, connecting one of China's ten most beautiful cities with the heritage city of Ha Long. However, this route was later suspended.

The 2024 cruise tourism season kicked off in October, with many international super cruise ships bringing tourists from Asia, Europe, and America to Ha Long, contributing to the goal of welcoming 3.5 million international visitors to Quang Ninh in 2024.