PANO – Foreign cruise ships are allowed to open duty-free shops and casinos for their onboard passengers while docking at Tien Sa Port in Da Nang city from the middle of this month, said the city’s Department of Culture, Sports, Tourism on January 8th.

According to the city, since the beginning of this year vessels have stayed longer in Da Nang, instead of one-day stays as before, so the decision is an effective way to attract more international cruise vessels to the city. Vietnamese people are not allowed to board these ships to attend the casino if they are not passengers.

SuperStar Libra of Star Cruises will be the first vessel to benefit from the decision. This year, Star Cruises plans to operate its newest ship, with a capacity of 4,500 tourists, to Vietnam.

Da Nang City expects to welcome more than 100,000 tourists on 110 vessels to Tien Sa port in 2016.

Translated by Son Ca