HCMC as the country’s biggest tourism center will focus on developing four main segments of shopping, MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibition), ecological and cultural tourism in the years to come, said a city leader.
The aim is to woo around four million international visitors with annual tourism revenue of VND66 trillion in the year 2015, HCMC vice chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong said at a meeting on Thursday to celebrate 50 years of Vietnam’s tourism industry.
HCMC in the years to come will still take advantage of its position as the major gateway of the country for international visitors to develop the tourism industry. It will build more products, organize festivals and events to cater to the visitors and to encourage them to stay and spend more here.
But Hong noted the need to join forces with other localities for tourism development.
“HCMC cannot stand alone in developing tourism products. We should make a strong connection with other localities to woo visitors,†she said.
Of the four main tourism segments, the city’s tourism is launching activities to develop MICE and ecological tours. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is making a research on the role of MICE tourism to develop the market.
The department is also making fact-finding trips and discussions with both the city’s government and travel firms to develop river tourism.
According to the Travel Division under the department, representatives of the department, the city’s government and travel firms in early August will make trips to survey the two river tour routes. The collaboration with the municipal government will facilitate the sector in developing both river tourism routes and related ground services.
Hong pledged support to the tourism sector at the meeting.
“The city government will give more support to the tourism sector for the suitable development,†she said.
HCMC has welcomed around 1.5 million international tourists in the first half of this year, up 12% year-on-year. Tourism revenue hit VND18.5 trillion.
In recent years, the city has welcomed around 60% of the total number of foreign arrivals in the country while tourism revenue often accounts for around 45% of the whole tourism sector’s revenue.
HCMC currently has more than 1,400 tourism accommodations with nearly 33,000 rooms, according to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. These include 60 three-to five-star hotels with nearly 8,600 rooms.