Hanoi, March 4 -- With a coastline of 3,260 kilometres, over 4,000 large and small islands, many beautiful bays and a deep-water port system suitable for large ships, Vietnam has great potential to develop cruise tourism.

The country, located on a bustling maritime trade route, connecting to many major cruise tourism markets such as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore, is showing many positive signs for a boom in this high-end tourism segment.

According to statistics from the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), in January, the country welcomed nearly 2.1 million international visitors, of whom nearly 45,000 arrived by sea. Many coastal localities such as Da Nang, Ha Long (Quang Ninh), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), and ...