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EN
On April 3rd, Tuan Chau International Passenger Port (Quang Ninh) was bustling with tour groups preparing to visit Ha Long Bay. However, after checking the ticket prices, many people left because they felt the entrance fees had increased significantly.
Specifically, from April 1st, Quang Ninh province will implement a fee for 5 sightseeing routes in Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay, with prices ranging from 200,000 to 250,000 VND per route. The fee for sightseeing along the route and overnight stay in the bay (one or two nights) ranges from 500,000 to 750,000 VND per person. This fee structure forces tourists to purchase tickets for all attractions along the route, primarily the caves. Overnight stay fees in the bay have also doubled.
“My family arrived at Tuan Chau Port at 9 am, planning to visit Ha Long Bay, but we were quite surprised by the exorbitant entrance fees. For example, the first route to Thien Cung Cave, Dau Go Cave, Dog Stone Island, Ba Hang Cave, Dinh Huong Island, and Trong Mai Island costs 250,000 VND, plus an additional 100,000 VND for the boat ticket and 20,000 VND for port entry and exit, totaling 370,000 VND per person,” said Mr. Nam from Hai Duong, adding that his family decided to turn back.
According to Mr. Nam, this fee structure forces tourists to buy tickets for all attractions, even though some places the family doesn't need to visit still have to, which is both costly and time-consuming.
A ticket seller at Tuan Chau International Cruise Port said that over the past two weekends, several Vietnamese tour groups had turned back because they couldn't afford to visit Ha Long Bay. A cruise ship owner stated that the nearly doubled fees are causing difficulties for businesses. “Many cruise contracts were signed in advance, and when customers saw the increased fees, they wanted to cancel their contracts. We had to explain it to them repeatedly before they finally agreed to buy tickets to visit the bay,” he said, adding that raising fees would result in fewer customers, while fewer customers would mean increasing service fees and boat fares, which would be considered “price gouging.” However, not raising fees would mean losses every time they go to the bay.
Under the previous fee structure, in addition to the general entrance fee of 120,000 VND/person/visit, visitors were charged an extra fee for each specific attraction, ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 VND/person/visit. For overnight stays in Ha Long Bay, there were three fee levels: 200,000 VND, 350,000 VND, and 400,000 VND/person, depending on the length of stay (1, 2, and 3 nights, respectively). For Bai Tu Long Bay, the corresponding fees were 150,000 VND, 300,000 VND, and 350,000 VND per person.
Mr. Pham Dinh Huynh, Deputy Head of the Ha Long Bay Management Board, said that previously, entrance fees were collected per point, including a general fee and fees for some other points, so visitors would sometimes have 5 to 6 different types of tickets. When combined, this amounted to nearly 300,000 VND. "Having multiple tickets at once makes it difficult for visitors to know which one to present," Mr. Huynh said, adding that tourists only need one ticket to access their chosen tour routes.
According to Mr. Huynh, this is not a plan to adjust ticket prices, but rather a plan to combine them into several tour routes in Ha Long Bay.
Source: Vnexpress
