VietNamNet Bridge – Danang and Hanoi will be the first two cities in Vietnam to launch open top buses for visitors wishing to take a city tour.

Illustrative image -- File photo

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a plan to test use such buses in seven provinces and cities – Danang, Hanoi, HCMC, Lam Dong, Kien Giang, Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue. The trial period is five years.

Tran Chi Cuong, deputy director of Danang’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said Thanh Do Investment Development and Construction JSC would operate 30 single- and double-decker buses in Danang next month.

In the initial phase, the buses would take tourists to major places of interest in the inner-city area.

Open top bus tours are expected to attract a lot of tourists in the city, Cuong added.

No travel firms in HCMC have expressed interest in open top bus tour services given their concerns over poor traffic conditions.

Nguyen Khoa Luan, CEO of Anh Viet Tourist, said his company is looking into this open to bus tour service but what concerns his firm is that power lines on some roads in downtown HCMC and bridges are too low for double-decker buses to safely pass and that air and dust pollution makes open top bus tours inappropriate.

SGT