Saigontourist ties up 130,000 cruise passengers

Saigontourist Travel Services Co. has cut a deal with Malaysia’s leading cruise line Star Cruises to welcome over 130,000 tourists on its cruises to Vietnam from next month to March next year.

Under the deal, 1,500 passengers and over 700 fleet members on each cruise will visit the nation every month and Saigontourist is the sole service supplier for Star Cruises in Vietnam.

Star Cruises will bring tourists on the five-star cruise ship SuperStar Aquarius from Tam A Island in China to Vietnam via four fixed routes Tam A-Danang, Tam A-Halong, Tam A-Halong-Hue and Tam A-Hue-Halong.

The bumper contract with Star Cruises not only generates a large number of visitors but also prolongs the stays of cruise passengers in Vietnam, said Doan Thi Thanh Tra, marketing manager of Saigontourist Travel Services Co.

Cruise liners of Star Cruises usually dock in the morning and leave that evening. However, tourists under the new deal will spend two days and the cruise will call on more ports in Vietnam thanks two new routes. “We still welcome other irregular cruises of Star Cruises,” Tra added.

The Malaysian company has planned to bring tourists to Halong Bay since 2007 but it has had to suspend the cruise route due to the economic downturn. Saigontourist expects that the new cruise route will extend by the end of next year following the five-month-long contract.(Source: SGT)