The number of international sea tourists to Vietnam has dropped dramatically over the past few years and industry insiders say poor infrastructure is mostly to blame.

Only 10,392 sea tourists arrived in Vietnam in the first two months of this year, 36 percent less than in the same period last year.

The sector reached its peak in 2002 when 309,000 foreign visitors arrived in Vietnam by sea. But the number of sea arrivals fell to 157,000 last year, 35 percent less than in 2007.

In 2005, about 700 cruise passengers traveled around the Asia-Pacific region and about 30 percent of them made a stop in Vietnam. The total number of cruise tourists in the region soared to more than one million tourists in 2008 but only 15 percent of the sea tourists visited Vietnam.

Vietnam, with more than 3,000 kilometers of coastline, is considered full of potential for sea tourism

Globally, the tourism sector has been hit by the global economic downturn. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has forecast international tourism to be in the range of 0 percent to a 2 percent decline this year. Last year, the number of tourism arrivals around the world rose by 2 percent.

A hot spot for tourists in central Vietnam, the seaside city of Danang, is expected to see a decrease of 30 percent of cruise passengers in the first quarter of this year over the same period in 2008.

Vietnam, with more than 3,000 kilometers of coastline, is considered full of potential for sea tourism.

The friendliness of local people at tourist destinations and the nation’s diversified and colorful culture are considered magnets for foreign tourists.

But industry insiders say the sea tourism sector is being held back by a lack of infrastructure, promotional campaigns and services at tourist destinations. Vietnam has no dedicated cruise ship port facilities so cruise ships dock at cargo ports and the country does not have enough higher-end hotel accommodation to meet peak demand.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization has forecast international tourism to be in the range of 0 percent to a 2 percent decline this year

The lack of government’s support for local tourism businesses has prevented Vietnam’s cruise sector from developing.

It has been 10 years since the first cruise ship arrived in the country but only a handful of local travel companies, including Saigontourist Travel Service Co. and Tan Hong Tourist Company, participate in the sector.

The lack of port facilities and high-end accommodation are not the only problems the cruise sector is facing.

As cruise tourists often arrive in groups of more than 1,000 at a time, travel agencies need to have at least 40 or 50 tour guides to meet each ship, which most operators said they found impossible.

Local travel businesses had to resort to hiring part-time staff who from language schools and foreign companies to show cruise tourists around, Saigontourist Deputy Director Vu Duy Vu told Saigon Times newspaper.