HCM City tourism festival to kick off next week

The Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival 2018 will get underway at 23/9 Park from April 12-15, offering nearly 60,000 domestic and foreign tour vouchers at 15-16% discount.

During a press conference organised by the municipal Tourism Department on April 5, Deputy Director of the municipal Centre for Tourism Promotion Tran Ngoc Dong Quan said the festival, themed “Discovering 2018 summer”, will feature around 150 booths by travel agencies, hotels, retailers, restaurants, transporters and airliners at home and abroad.

Other promotions such as gold hour of shocking prices, lucky draw, and buy 1 get 1 are also available.

Seminars on introducing tourism information and Gotadi ticket reservation, and improving the efficiency of online tourism will also be held.

Quan said the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will also offer 2,400 codes with a 30% discount for domestic and foreign flights during the event, and a discount up to 49% for delegations on international flights.

On April 14 evening, a ceremony to honour top 100 tourism brands of the city will also be organised. It is a prestigious award to honour tourism companies based in the city.

According to the organising board, the festival is expected to become a channel to popularise quality destinations and contribute to stimulating demand.

HCM City promotes tourism links with other localities

Ho Chi Minh City is seeking to enhance connectivity with other localities nationwide to become more attractive to tourists.

Tuoi tre (Youth) Newspaper held a forum on inter-regional tourism connectivity of the southern economic hub of Vietnam on April 4.

Director of the municipal Tourism Department Bui Ta Hoang Vu said HCM City is a hotspot for many outstanding tourism products nationwide like MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), shopping-entertainment tourism and cultural-culinary tourism. It is a must-visit destination for tourists to Vietnam.

The city welcomed more than 1.3 million tourist arrivals in the first three months of 2018, he noted.

However, to develop tourism sustainably, cooperation is needed, he said, adding that inter-regional tourism connectivity does not reduce the strength and market share of each locality but increases their competitiveness and expands their market more easily, thus creating unique tourism products, lengthening tourists’ stay and boosting revenue.

HCM City is enhancing bilateral and multilateral connections with localities in Dong Thap Muoi sub-region, the east of the Mekong Delta and the northern, central and Central Highlands regions. It will also continue carrying out solutions to attract tourism investment, Vu added.

Trinh Hang, Director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Department of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, said after years of tourism cooperation with HCM City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau has become a familiar destination for tourists visiting HCM City. More than 85% of visitors to Vung Tau city come from HCM City.

 Several travel companies, hotels, restaurants and resorts in HCM City have established branches in Vung Tau, helping to raise local tourism revenue.

 Hang said his province will continue working with the nearby city to provide more tourism products and attract domestic and foreign visitors.

 Addressing the forum, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem affirmed that the city’s tourism must be connected with other regions nationwide to develop sustainably. The local sector has inked cooperation agreements with 36 provinces and cities.

 He said it will continue connecting local businesses, improve tourism manpower training and develop HCM City’s image as a safe, attractive and friendly destination for foreign visitors.

VNA