HCMC’s Tet fireworks river cruises unfilled

Hoang Van Thuy, manager of GreenLines DP Company, said many potential customers had called his company asking about Tet fireworks cruise tours, but very few had actually made reservations.

GreenLines currently has two yachts that can accommodate 12-20 people, with prices ranging from VND15-20 million (US$616-821) each per cruise.

Lieu Thi My Hanh, CEO of Les Rives Company, said her company has three yachts and 14 other boats providing tours along the Saigon River.

It offers a cruise tour that allows guests to watch fireworks on Lunar New Year’s Eve and enjoy the city nightlife, combined with light meals. The tour departs at 10 p.m. on Feb. 9 and ends at 1 a.m. the next day with tickets costing VND4 million per person.

Hanh said that although Tet is approaching, the number of tourists registering for cruise tours on Lunar New Year’s Eve has decreased by half compared to the Gregorian New Year holiday.

Tour purchasing power has decreased because many tourists prefer traveling to other parts of the country due to long vacation, she added.

Hanh also said that her major customer bases of overseas Vietnamese and foreigners living and working in Vietnam often return home to visit family during Tet, leading to a significant decrease in sales at her company.

During this year’s Gregorian New Year holiday, her two yachts, each with a capacity of 40 guests, were completely booked.

King Yatch cruises also offer a tour program for VND1.7 million per adult and VND1.2 million for children that still has plenty of spaces available for Lunar New Year’s Eve.

In addition to luxury cruise ships, visitors can experience watching the Saigon River fireworks show at a lower cost, below VND500,000 per person, on double-decker river buses.

Nguyen Kim Toan, director of a travel company which runs the double-decker river bus tour, said his number of booking on Lunar New Year’s Eve is so far also lower than the New Year’s Eve.

He posited that in addition to visiting their families, many potential customers were also traveling to more popular tourist destinations for the holiday instead.

According to statistics from the travel platform Mustgo, downtown HCMC’s 5-star hotels with the best views for the fireworks still have many vacant rooms for this upcoming Lunar New Year’s Eve. The fact also stands in contrast to the last New Year’s Eve night, when occupancy rates reached about 80% capacity.

This year, the city will have fireworks displays at 11 venues, five more than last year.

The two highest-altitude fireworks shows will take place at the Saigon River Tunnel in Thu Duc City and Ben Duoc Martyrs Memorial Temple in Cu Chi District.