Travel agencies in HCMC during this week will be busy with a series of programs to promote tourism and introduce products among local and foreign tour operators.
A number of programs are hosted in coincidence with the Travel Expo HCMC 2012 (ITE HCMC) from Thursday to Saturday.
Tomorrow India will kick off its tourism promotions in the city with road shows introducing the country's tourism at the Sofitel Saigon Plaza followed by the Cambodian night on Thursday. In addition, local tourism promotion agencies from Haiphong, Khanh Hoa or Binh Phuoc will also organize scores of other events in HCMC to promote images, events and new products of their localities.
The city has become the focus of tourism marketing activities as the number of agencies engaged in international travel here makes up nearly a half of the total number of tourism companies nationwide. Up to 435 foreign tour operators and 324 domestic ones are present in HCMC, with most of the country's leading enterprises based in the city.
The number of foreign arrivals to the city accounts for about 58% of the total while the number of domestic visitors of the city also grows by 20-30% annually.
A lot of tourism firms in HCMC have become the major ones to take travelers to other provinces. According to the departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lam Dong and Binh Thuan provinces, the majority of visitors to their localities are handled by city-based tourism companies. In Lam Dong alone, the number of visitors handled by travel agencies in HCMC amount to up to 45% of the total.