HCM City welcomes over 30 million visitors in first nine months of 2023

HCM City, October 18 (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 southern economic hub of Vietnam 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