Excitedly waiting for the Ho Chi Minh City - Con Dao high-speed train to depart

A tourist in Ho Chi Minh City said that the last time she visited Con Dao was 8 years ago, she took a 12-hour boat ride from Vung Tau to the island. Ms. Ly has not had the opportunity to return to Con Dao mainly because "air travel is expensive and taking the boat takes a lot of time."

Thang Long Express Boat running the Ho Chi Minh City - Con Dao route will be launched on May 13 and the first trip will depart at 7:00 a.m. on May 15 at Hiep Phuoc Port, Nha Be District, 22 km from the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Passengers can take a shuttle boat from Bach Dang Wharf to Hiep Phuoc Port, the transfer time is about 52 minutes. The time to transport passengers from Hiep Phuoc Port to Con Dao is about 4.5 hours.

Thang Long high-speed ship is considered the largest passenger ship at sea in Vietnam today. The ship is made of aluminum alloy, 77.46 m long, more than 9.5 m wide, with 4 floors, was newly built in August 2020 and has a capacity of 1,017 passengers.

Inside Vietnam's largest high-speed train

According to Ms. Ly, the high-speed ferry route from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao has come into operation to solve the expensive travel costs. Passengers from Ho Chi Minh City who want to go to Con Dao do not have to spend time traveling hundreds of kilometers to Vung Tau port.

"Train tickets are almost half the price of air tickets. Going by train to see the sea is an experience worth waiting for," said Ms. Ly.

The price of a one-way high-speed ferry ticket ranges from 615,000 to 1.1 million VND depending on the ticket class. According to a survey, the lowest round-trip airfare from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao in May is 3.5 million VND.

Mr. Tran Song Hai, General Director of Greenlines DP Company, the co-operating unit, said that the number of interested customers has increased since the official announcement of ticket sales. About 60% of customers booked online, 40% bought directly at Bach Dang wharf or bought through travel agencies distributing tickets. Most of the customers buying tickets for this train route are domestic customers, with 70% from the southern region and 30% from the northern region.

Foreign visitors have started to inquire with an approach of about 7%. Mr. Hai said the company is planning to link up with international OTA channels such as Tripadvisor, Booking.com and traditional travel agencies to reach this source of visitors.

According to Mr. Hai, the operation of the Con Dao - Ho Chi Minh City express boat is the result of the efforts of many parties. The procedures and licenses were only fully granted a week ago. The operation is difficult because Hiep Phuoc is a cargo port, awaiting approval to become a passenger port. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Maritime Administration and the Ministry of Transport have been very determined to work together to put the boat route into operation.

"Because it is a cargo port, the infrastructure for receiving passengers is still rudimentary, there is no waiting room for tourists. It is expected to be completed this year to improve service quality," said Mr. Hai.

Mr. Hai said that the Ho Chi Minh City - Con Dao expressway is an economically effective solution in the context of high airfares and few flights. Currently, the planes to Con Dao are all small planes, with high operating costs, leading to limited frequency of operations and difficulty in cutting costs.

He also predicted that tourism in Con Dao will be bustling again, and tourism services on the island are likely to reach 100% capacity. "The number of visitors is expected to increase, so the operator will operate a boat trip every day, carrying a maximum of 1,017 passengers per trip," said Mr. Hai.

To avoid the possibility of visitors to Con Dao bringing with them a large amount of waste, the unit is also considering issuing a regulation not to bring packaged food or plastic bottles on the boat to the island.

Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, hopes that the train route will promote regional tourism products between Ho Chi Minh City and the Southeast, and be a lever to develop more spiritual tourism products and resort tourism. Visitors to Ho Chi Minh City will have more options besides inner-city tourism products.

"Ho Chi Minh City is encouraging local businesses to cooperate with the Ho Chi Minh City - Con Dao high-speed ferry operator to exploit more waterway tour products so that tourists have more options," said Mr. Hoa.