The number of visitors using the sea-crossing cable car service to explore Cat Ba Island off Hai Phong City in northern Vietnam reached a new high of over 5,300 on Sunday, after the service operator halved the ticket price to enhance tourism sales.

Cat Ba Island is part of the island district Cat Hai in this northern city. 

Cat Ba Sun Company, the cable car service operator, earlier reduced the ticket price by 50 percent to VND50,000 (US$2) per person per ride, with the ticket discount in place until August 31.

For passengers with sizable baggage, which measures 60cm x 30cm x 80cm or 30kg in weight, they will be charged additional fees equal to the price of each cable car ride at VND50,000.

After the 50-percent discount was introduced, many visitors chose the cable car service over waiting nearly an hour for the ferry to the island, which helped reduce the overloading of ferry passengers.

Plenty of travel agencies also offer free-of-charge cable car tickets to those who book tours to Cat Ba.

Previously, during each peak summer travel season, it was a nightmare for visitors to endure an hours-long wait and the scorching heat to get a ferry ride to the island.

Data provided by Cat Ba Sun Company showed that the number of cable car passengers reached over 20,400 between May 25 and June 2, soaring an astounding 326 percent against the same period last year.

Pham Minh Toan, aged 35 and hailing from Thai Binh Province in northern Vietnam, expressed his satisfaction over the time-saving cable car service and its convenient payment methods.

He shared that it was such an amazing experience to view Hai Phong from above by taking a cable car to Cat Ba Island.

Earlier, having waited for so long to board a ferry, Toan decided to take his car to a nearby parking lot and tried the cable car service with his family members.

In the waiting area of a cable car station on Cat Hai Island, which is also off the namesake district, the cable car service operator set up a sizable parking lot with fees ranging between VND5,000 ($0.19) and VND10,000 ($0.39) for motorcycles and from VND20,000 ($0.78) to VND70,000 ($2.7) for cars depending on their parking duration.

When they arrive at the Phu Long station on Cat Ba Island, visitors can opt for taxi or bus services offered at VND13,000-15,000 ($0.51-0.58) per person to travel to the center of Cat Ba Town in the district.

The Cat Hai – Phu Long cable car link, which traverses over 3,955 meters of sea to connect the island communes of Dong Bai and Phu Long in Cat Hai District, is a part of the longer Cat Ba cable car system developed by Vietnamese conglomerate Sun Group.

The four-kilometer-long sea cable car link was put into operation in June 2020, carrying a price tag of over VND2.2 trillion ($86 million).

The system has 60 cars capable of carrying 30 passengers each, equal to 4,500 passengers an hour.

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