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Touring Saigon on Vespas

City tours using old Vespas provided by Vietnam Vespa Adventures have recently become a favourite selection of tourists to discover beautiful places in Ho Chi Minh City, such as the City’s Theatre, the  Post Office, Independence Palace and Nha Rong Wharf. 
Vietnam Vespa Adventures  was established in 2006 by Steve Mueller, an American who initiated this new tourism form – touring the city on old Vespas which is now provided by hundreds of tourism companies.

Arriving in this city, tourists will see this means of transport on Tay and Bui Vien streets in District 1. Here, there are a plenty of Vespas of different versions in the service of tourists. For this tour, the Vespa driver is the tourist guide who is in charge of taking tourists to fascinating destinations and introducing them to cultural and historical values.

Steve Mueller acknowledged: “Touring Ho Chi Minh Ciy by Vespa is the best way to discover, experience and learn about the locals’ life”. Therefore, Vietnam Vespa Adventures quickly achieved success in this new tourist form which is now also provided by other tourism companies, such as XO Tours and Back of the Bike Tours, to meet the increasing demand of tourists.

 

Many foreigners choose to discover famous destinations in Ho Chi Minh City on Vespas. 


Tourists can select a 4-5 hour tour  or a long trip of 3-7 days to discover the city. 

Preparing scooters before picking up clients. 

Different types of Vespas are used for customers. 

This is a new, dynamic and simple tourism model that needs small capital. 

The quality of service is the factor that decides the success of this model .

Travelling on Vespas provide tourists a realistic experience about the life of Ho Chi Minh City dwellers. 

Taking pictures with Vespas. 

According to Ton That Thien Bao, Managing Director of Vietnam Vespa Adventures, the company’s annual turnover growth is  40-50%  and  tourists know this tour due to the recommendations of  old customers.

The quality of service is the factor that decides the success of this model so tourism companies always strive to create differences that lure tourists. If not, tourists will look for more interesting tours from other companies,  explained Phan Thi Quynh Hoa, Manager of Back of the Bike Tours.

For  Vietnam Vespa Adventures’ tours that include destinations in Mui Ne and Long An, drivers are male who wear a yellow coat while for XO Tours’, tour guides  are girls who are excellent in foreign languages and often wear a traditional long dress. The difference brought to tourists by Back of the  Bike Tours is the Street Food Tour – enjoying delicious street food in a restaurant managed by the founder of the company and head of the restaurant who understands the tastes of foreigners.

Tour guides of XO Tours are female who are helped by male employees taking photos or shooting videos free of charge for tourists. Thanks to the increasing number of tourists, XO Tours has plans to expand the model to neighbouring areas and employ more guides.

After each trip, tourists can leave their comments on Tripadvistor and the ranking of tour companies will change, depending on tourist’s evaluation. For this reason, the tour companies always make an effort to renovate and improve the quality of services to offer customers the best tour.
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Story: Dang Kim Phuong - Photos: Thong Hai


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