HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City welcomed 27 million domestic
visitors and about 3.5 million foreign tourists, up nearly 25% year-on-year, according
to the municipal Department of Planning and Investment.
The city earned 125.5 trillion VND (5.16 billion USD) in revenue from tourism
from January through September, an increase of 35.8% over the same period last
year.
The number of passengers travelling to and from the city by air and train
increased 37% and 53%, respectively. The volume of public passenger transport
increased by 22.8% to around 300 million passengers.
The tourism industry’s revenue is a very important contributor to the city’s
economy. Therefore, this year, the city set a target for the industry’s revenue
to reach 160 trillion VND, 10-15% higher than 2019, said Le Truong Hien Hoa, deputy
director of city’s Department of Tourism.
The above stats show that the city has been able to attract tourists and
gradually recover its tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, the city welcomed over 8.6 million international visitors and 32.8
million domestic tourists with total revenue of over 140 trillion VND.
To attract more tourists, the city’s tourism industry immediately launched the
programme “Welcome to HCM City” and “Each district has at least one attractive
tourism destination”.
The city’s tourism authority has cooperated with relevant agencies to survey
and create many new tours and routes to upgrade and bring new experiences to
tourists.
Local tourist sites such as Ben Thanh Market, Sai Gon Central Post Office, and
the War Remnants Museum have been favoured among the visitors.
Currently, domestic and foreign tourists coming to HCM City can select new
tours, such as a helicopter tour over HCM City, and the Sai Gon River tour to
watch the sunset and see the beauty of the city at night.
Many foreign tourists are interested in discovering the beauty of the Sai Gon River.
To facilitate the travel of passengers, the city authority has deployed three
tram lines that connect quickly from the Bach Dang wharf to tourist landmarks
in the city.
By 2025, it aims to develop at least 10 waterway tours and programmes linking
seaports and river routes.
The city is striving to welcome about 500,000 visitors a year to the waterway
tourism programmes in the 2023-24 period, and increase this number by 10% in
the following years.
In addition, suburban districts, such as Can Gio and Cu Chi, are also promoting the development of
agri-l and eco-tourism in.
Moreover, the city is now focusing on developing more types of entertainment tourism,
cuisine and services at night to create many new and unique tourism products to
meet the increasing needs of tourists.
Also, it continues to focus on the development of healthcare and wellness, and
waterway tourism offerings, which have great development potential and bring in
much revenue for the city.
The municipal Department of Tourism has worked with 50 units, including
hospitals, healthcare facilities, spas, travel companies and accommodation
facilities to create 30 unique service packages that combine healthcare with
visiting famous destinations to meet the needs of tourists.
In addition, with Vietnam’s new visa policy since August, the number of foreign
tourists is expected to continue to increase, especially in the last months of
the year – the peak period of tourism./.