Published:  00:00 Tuesday - March 01, 2011

Vietnam’s leading travel firm Saigontourist Travel Service Co. on Monday opened a new building as the office for its Saigontourist – Quang Ninh branch in Halong City

Vietnam’s leading travel firm Saigontourist Travel Service Co. on Monday opened a new building as the office for its Saigontourist – Quang Ninh branch in Halong City with an aim to better serve tourists in the northern province.

The tour operator, whose business stronghold is in HCMC, targets both individual leisure travelers and MICE groups from companies there, the company’s director Vo Anh Tai said.

The Saigontourist – Quang Ninh branch was opened many years ago, serving both local and international tourists, mostly foreign cruise travelers in Halong, which is home to the World Heritage Site of Halong Bay. However, the facility there was small and could not serve an increasing number of guests.

Via the new investment, the company wants to attract more local guests in the province to buy tours of Saigontourist, adding the strong development of the local market is one of the main reasons prompting Saigontourist to invest there.

“We were selling tours to local guests there but the market was not big enough. Now, Hanoi and the whole northern region market of our company is rapidly growing, at a triple-digit rate in three recent years,” Tai told the Daily.

The branch currently operates a tourist wharf in a beach named Bai Chay serving its foreign cruise travelers and other local tourist boats in the bay.

The Saigontourist – Quang Ninh is catering to regular trips of cruise ships of international lines like the Italian Costa Crociere cruise line with two to four trips per month. The ships are taking 1,000 to 2,000 passengers per trip on the Halong-Hong Kong route.

The company said that the branch has served up to 13,000 cruise passengers from Europe, Australia, China, Hong Kong and Japan. Saigontourist - Quang Ninh branch on Tuesday and Wednesday will receive thousands of international passengers from the Costa Classcia and Princess Daphne cruise ships.

Apart from its offices in HCMC, Saigontourist has opened branches in Can Tho, Danang, Quang Ninh and Hanoi.

Saigontourist obtained revenues of over VND1.3 trillion last year, up 20% compared to 2009. The company has reported total revenues of VND230 billion in the first two months of this year, up 39% year-on-year.

Source: The Saigon Times