Unprecedented story in Ha Long Bay heritage - Cat Ba archipelago

Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago, a destination that captivates the hearts of millions of domestic and international tourists with its majestic and magical beauty, always beautiful and captivating at every moment, whether it is a clear dawn or a brilliant sunset...

It is a complex, but there is a management boundary between the two localities of Quang Ninh and Hai Phong, causing difficulties for cruise ships and tourists for many years. Although it is a continuous strip, to go from Ha Long Bay to Lan Ha Bay, cruise ships have to "detour" for half a day because of management work.

Why does this paradox exist and after being recognized by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage (from September 16), will the situation change and what is the solution to this story?

Behind the scenes at heritage

Omega Group CEO Nguyen Thi Thuy Nguyen said that this travel agency has been specializing in luxury cruises on Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay for decades. However, what makes it difficult for businesses like Nguyen is that customers often want to experience both Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay for 3 days and 2 nights.

To do so, after spending a night in Ha Long Bay, guests must transfer ships by returning to Tuan Chau wharf, boarding a speedboat to the area where cruise ships running the Lan Ha route anchor in the waters of Gia Luan. Because of the boundary, not only do they have to book services twice, transfer bulky luggage, instead of a 30-minute boat ride from Ha Long Bay to Cat Ba, guests have to go around for another half day.

“We lost a lot of customers,” Ms. Nguyen said. “For example, foreign customers choose to go to Lan Ha but want to visit Sung Sot Cave and Titop Island, both of which are in Ha Long Bay, on the same trip. This is very difficult. At that time, customers are forced to choose between experiencing the boat or choosing the route with the other destination.”

“Although I want to experience the boat in Lan Ha and am willing to pay more to go to Sung Sot Cave and Titop Island, this is very difficult. I think Vietnamese tourism can exploit this long-term customer base because they have gone and come back to go with others. They are helping us spread the destination,” she said.

A representative of a business that operates overnight cruise ships in this heritage complex said that they had to use two cruise ships at the same time in both Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay because of a “lack of communication” between the two parties. According to this person, the issue has existed for more than 10 years.

General Director of the 5-star Indochine Premium Cruise, Ms. Le Phuong Nhi recalled a sad memory: “Many years ago, we lost a file of American customers who only flew private planes. They rented the whole ship, about 10-15 guests stayed and went to the island to cycle. At that time, when Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay could not be connected, they not only canceled our Natural Heritage destination but also canceled the Vietnam destination.”

Before that, her business also could not keep its regular customers, specializing in 6-7 consecutive nights of kayaking and cycling. Because after every 2 nights of rest, the boat had to return to shore to start the order again.

Unprecedented story

In reality, ships running the Lan Ha Bay route must anchor at Gia Luan wharf in Hai Phong, a small wharf that is often overloaded and relatively inconvenient to travel to. To get to Gia Luan wharf, passengers must travel by Got ferry, which is often overloaded in the summer and the waiting time can be up to several hours. In addition, traveling on this route, passengers also have to pay an additional fee if they use personal vehicles such as cars to cross the ferry.

Meanwhile, ships running on the Ha Long Bay route (Quang Ninh) can anchor at three ports: Tuan Chau International Tourist Port, Ha Long International Port, and VinaShin Hon Gai Port, which have a larger capacity than Gia Luan.

The current entrance fee to Lan Ha Bay is 80,000 VND/person/trip, in Ha Long Bay it is 200,000-250,000 VND (depending on the route). The overnight fee in Lan Ha Bay is from 250,000-500,000 VND, in Ha Long Bay it is 550,000-750,000 VND/person.

When Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba archipelago becomes a world natural heritage site (from September 16, 2023), it also means that for the first time in Vietnam there is a heritage located in both localities, so the management model is still a question mark.

Therefore, experts are concerned that without a common management board, it will be difficult to avoid competition and conflict between the two sides, along with many shortcomings from the extension of the "blocking of rivers and banning markets" to competition in destinations.

“We agree with limiting the number of ships, but for Ha Long Bay, we simply need to open routes, not set fixed routes. Because each tourism business will have different customers. European and Asian customers have their own needs, and domestic tourists also have different needs. We hope to be able to run our own cruises, designed with the best quality within the prescribed fee,” Ms. Nhi shared.

Meanwhile, the Ha Long Bay Management Board said that based on regulations on inland waterway traffic safety and order, tourist boats are only allowed to operate within the tourist routes recorded in the port and wharf departure permits issued by the port authority.

Therefore, Hai Phong tourist boats will not be allowed to operate in Ha Long Bay area without being licensed by the competent authority. At the same time, sightseeing activities on the two bays are also divided into routes (routes 1-5) to ensure the carrying capacity of the heritage and minimize the impact on the heritage.

“The government should be the referee”

While experts and travel agencies are hoping that the two localities will soon have a joint management board, recently, at a regular press conference of the Hai Phong City People's Committee (October 5), Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Phong City, Mr. Trinh Van Tu affirmed: "There is no joint management board."

However, according to Mr. Tu, the two localities will agree on the management and protection of heritage values, tour information, routes and even prices for tourism services. “Hai Phong will have to raise the entrance fee to Lan Ha Bay to the same level as Ha Long,” Mr. Tu said.

It is known that under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hai Phong city and Quang Ninh province are building a set of common management rules after the Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba archipelago was recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage on September 16.

In fact, many tourists do not care which locality manages the heritage complex, but what they want is to experience a unique, quintessential and most convenient cruise possible.

Discussing the story of managing two bays, one heritage located in two localities, Director of the Asian Tourism Development Institute, Mr. Pham Hai Quynh, said that the two sides are adjacent so they have similar values. The natural heritage of Ha Long Bay was recognized by UNESCO first, so from management, investment, development orientation to fees, charges... all have standards.

“Cat Ba Archipelago ‘comes behind,’ but what Ha Long Bay ‘prohibits’, Cat Ba ‘opens,’ Ha Long has fees, Cat Ba can waive fees. For customers or tourism agencies, wherever the cost is low but the service is similar, that place will be attractive. This issue also creates an imbalance or unfairness in activities in Ha Long and Cat Ba. I hope that the two sides will have a common agreement for activities in the two bays, thereby creating the best conditions for tourists to stay overnight at these two destinations,” said Mr. Quynh.

Faced with this unprecedented reality in Vietnam, according to Mr. Quynh, the solution is to unify regulations and standards on management and unify tax and fee levels regardless of whether visitors come from Hai Phong or Ha Long. This will create fairness in business as well as give tourists suitable options without having to suffer from 'one neck, two yokes' when experiencing heritage.

“From what happened, the Government must regulate the business of overnight stays at sea and also unify the price. The revenue from heritage is very large, so the Government needs to be the arbitrator to balance the harmony between the parties,” Mr. Quynh suggested.