Businesses worried about the news of stopping receiving international passenger ships at Cai Mep

Businesses believe that this decision could seriously affect Vietnam's cruise tourism activities and the reputation of Ho Chi Minh City as a destination on the global tourism map.

Photo caption — Star Voyager cruise ship with a capacity of nearly 2,000 guests and many entertainment spaces docked at Phu My port, Ho Chi Minh City last June.

Specifically, Royal Caribbean Group (RCG, one of the world's leading cruise ship corporations) has just sent a document to the authorities reflecting that ports in Phu My ward (Ho Chi Minh City) will stop receiving international passenger ships. This sudden decision forced the Ovation of the Seas ship carrying more than 4,000 passengers scheduled to arrive at TCCT Port on October 18, 2025 to cancel its schedule, causing great damage to businesses and tourists.

RCG representatives said that the Ovation of the Seas ship departed from Hong Kong on October 16 and could only dock at one of the major ports in the Thi Vai - Phu My area. If the removal is not made immediately, the unit will have to remove Ho Chi Minh City from the list of destinations on the Asia itinerary.

Sharing the same concern, Saigontourist Travel Company has also sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism requesting permission for container ports or general ports in the Cai Mep - Thi Vai area to pilot the reception of international passenger ships to ensure the tourism activities of welcoming international cruise ships. According to this unit, in recent years, the programs of welcoming and seeing off international passenger ships here have always taken place safely and smoothly with an average of 60 - 80 trips per year, bringing in large revenue for local tourism and services.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Luu, General Director of Saigontourist Travel Company, from now until April 2026, there are about 15 international cruises with 40,000 passengers waiting to dock. If not resolved promptly, a series of cruises are at risk of being canceled, causing great damage to businesses and negatively affecting the image of Vietnam tourism.

To resolve this problem, the unit has also proposed to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism to report and propose to the Vietnam Maritime Administration and relevant agencies to allow a pilot program to receive international passenger ships at Cai Mep - Thi Vai until the end of 2026, ensuring the maintenance of cruise tourism activities and maintaining Vietnam's reputation in the global tourism market.

It is known that on October 14, in a response to SP-PSA International Port Company Limited, the Vietnam Maritime Administration (Ministry of Construction) said that the seaport development plans for the period 2021 - 2030 and vision to 2050 designate Thi Vai wharf area for cargo, containers, bulk cargo and liquid/gas cargo, not including the function of receiving international tourists. Therefore, the Maritime Administration affirmed that there is not enough basis to approve SP-PSA's proposal to operate passenger ships at this port. If these container ports want to receive passenger ships, they need to add functions to the license to declare operations, this procedure takes a long time while the ship schedule has been finalized months in advance.

Currently in Vietnam there is no port specializing in sea tourism, except Ha Long which has a wharf to welcome international visitors. Cruise tourists coming to Vietnam, whether on a long cruise of 8-9 days or a 4-5 day route, always travel in large numbers, with short visit times at destinations, averaging 4-8 hours.

According to estimates, the daily spending of each cruise passenger when arriving in Vietnam is about 100 - 200 USD, without staying overnight because they sleep on the ship. The lack of professional ports for sea tourism is also a problem that the Vietnamese tourism industry needs to overcome to welcome the flow of "rich, time-consuming" tourists to Vietnam in the near future.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/du-lich/doanh-nghiep-lo-lang-truoc-thong-tin-dung-tiep-nhan-tau-khach-quoc-te-tai-cai-mep-thi-vai-20251016155043733.htm