During a recent tourism conference, Saigon officials considered scores of new features to amp up the city’s attractiveness in the eyes of tourists, including a potential floating market.
On November 22, municipal authorities held a tourism seminar titled “Developing Ho Chi Minh City’s Unique Tourism” which focused on generating ideas to flesh out the city’s water-related tourist attractions to make better use of Saigon’s system of rivers and streams, reports Zing.
According to Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the HCMC Department of Tourism, Saigon is particularly interested in investment for river tourism projects. Vu shared that at the moment, there are only a few water transportation options for tourists, but the distance between boat stops are far apart and there are not enough places of interest in between.
Therefore, the city is looking into collaborating with farmers in the region to establish nurseries and plant gardens along each route in the hope of getting tourists to spend more time on Saigon’s waterways. A more ambitious proposal was also put forth detailing a plan for a Mekong Delta-style floating market.
On the private sector side, Tran Song Hai, CEO of high-speed boat firm Greenlines, also proposed a plan to develop a system of high-class water taxis, making use of special vehicles similar to those currently being deployed on the East Sea.
[Photo via iOne]