HCM City (VNA) – Boostingconnectivity with localities nationwide is a key solution Ho Chi Minh City is usingto develop tourism sustainably and promote its role as a major economic,cultural and tourist hub of Vietnam.

HCM City has long been one of the top Vietnamesedestinations for both domestic and foreign visitors.

In the first half of 2019, it welcomed more than16.5 million domestic and 4.25 million foreign travellers, gaining 73 trillionVND (3.16 billion USD) in tourism revenue.

Inter-regionalconnections formed

Director of the municipal Tourism Department BuiTa Hoang Vu said the local tourism sector has been enhancing cooperation withmany provinces and cities nationwide. 

For the nearby Mekong Delta, HCM City has formedpartnerships with the Dong Thap Muoi sub-region (comprising Long An, Tien Giangand Dong Thap provinces) and with the eastern and western localities of theDelta.

Under these relations, HCM City and its MekongDelta partners have shared experience in tourism management, organisedpromotion activities, developed tourism products, provided manpower trainingand worked to attract investment, Vu noted.

Nguyen Dong Hoa, Deputy Director General of theHCM City-based Saigontourist Holding Company – an operator of manytrans-locality tours, said tourism cooperation has been carried outbidirectionally, which means travel companies organise tours for visitors totravel from HCM City to other localities, and vice versa.

He said about 70 percent of foreign visitors toHCM City say they want to continue their trips on to the Mekong Delta.

Aside from the Mekong Delta, the local tourismsector has worked with many localities in the central and Central Highlandsregions. 

The fruitful tourism cooperation programme for2014-2018 between HCM City and Nghe An, a province in the northern centralregion, is an example. It helped popularise numerous tours of historical relicsites in both localities while promoting tourism investment. From 2015 to 2018,the Saigontourist Travel Service Company, an affiliate of the SaigontouristHolding Company, served about 52,000 Vietnamese and foreign vacationers coming toNghe An – the hometown of late President Ho Chi Minh.

Under their cooperation plan for 2019-2025, thetwo sides are organising fact-finding trips, developing new tours of Nghe An,and giving manpower training, officials noted.

Nguyen Thi Minh Anh, a tourist from Vinh city ofNghe An, said going by plane to HCM City, her family visited many historicalrelic sites there such as Nha Rong Wharf, Cu Chi Tunnels and Sac Forest in CuChi district. In return, many of her friends in HCM City also set foot in Sen village– the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh, Thanh Chuong tea islets and Cua Lobeach of Nghe An.

Identifyingparticular products

According to Director of the Tourism DepartmentBui Hoang Ta Vu, HCM City pays attention to working with other localities tobuild cooperation plans that must be based on tourism potential and relevantconditions.

It is very important to specify special tourismproducts of each locality so as to attract visitors, he added.

Vu took MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencesand events) tourism as an example, noting it is one of the strong tourismproducts of HCM City, and many local travel companies have bolstered ties withother localities to tap into this sector.

The Saigontourist Travel Service Company aloneprovided MICE trips for more than 100,000 people between May and July.

Saigontourist Deputy Director General Hoa saidspecial tourism products are not necessarily completely new, but can be new tothe markets travel firms are targeting. For example, bicycle tours from HCMCity to the Mekong Delta are popular, but companies can renew them by selectingnew stops along the routes such as craft villages or historical and culturalrelics.

Cao Xuan Thu Van, Director of the Culture,Sports and Tourism Department of Bac Lieu province, said under their tourismcooperation, western localities of the Mekong Delta regionlike Can Tho city and the provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Soc Trang,Bac Lieu and Hau Giang are striving to develop unique tourism products, likespiritual tourism in An Giang, waterway tourism in Can Tho, and tours ofeconomic facilities like wind power plants or hi-tech shrimp farms in BacLieu.-VNA