The HCM City tourism industry is increasingly offering new products andservices based on what visitors want and how other countries do things.
Thecity, which has popular tourism destinations like the Cu Chi guerrillawar place tunnels, Ben Thanh Market, Reunification Palace, has developednew ones like inland waterway tours.
With the Saigon and DongNai rivers flowing through it and a 900km canal system, the city expectswaterway tourism to spearhead the tourism growth.
Nguyen VanDung, Director of Thien Nien Ky Travel Company, said 99 percent ofinternational visitors to the city choose to visit Cu Chi district and90 percent choose to travel to the Mekong River for a day or two.
Tours that help visitors discover the city's history, culture, and food are also popular, he said.
In recent times around 10 travel companies have been offering a new product – seeing the city on a motorbike.
Ittakes tourists through Districts 1, 5, 8, and 7, enabling them todiscover the differences in architecture, culture, and people's livingstyle.
CNN International Edition recently carried a report on how to become a part of Saigon by Steve Mueller.
Muellersays: "Being on a scooter in HCM City is the best way to feel a part ofthe city. It's really an authentic experience. Being side by side withthe locals."
La Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of the cityDepartment of Tourism, said the city has intensified its efforts todiversify tourism products and promotions like the ao dai festival inMarch, Tourism Day in April, Southern Food Festival in May, Southernfruit festival in June, and the HCM City International TourismExhibition in September.
It has also organised severalpromotional programmes in markets like Australia, Japan, the Republic ofKorea, Russia, Eastern Europe, and Indonesia, he added.
These efforts partly explain why the city is regularly named in the list of interesting travel destinations.
Itwas listed as one of the world's 10 fastest-growing destinationsbetween 2009 and 2015, according to MasterCard's annual GlobalDestinations Cities Index.
It was ranked 48th in a list of 50safest cities in the world by the UK's The Economist magazine, whichranked cities around the world using 40 metrics that spanned four maincategories: digital security, health security, infrastructure safety,and personal safety.
Nguyen Van My, the director of Lua VietTours Co, Ltd, said besides its geographical location, the city also hasan advantage over other places like good infrastructure andfriendliness and professionalism of service at shopping places andrestaurants.
But the city has to fix some shortcomings if itwants to "fly high", he said, referring to unclean restrooms and toiletsat tourist destinations, robberies, begging, and traffic jams.
"The city's tourism strategists have not come up with a specific strategy to make the sector outstanding.
"The simple thing they have to do is answer common questions visitors ask – what to eat? Where to go? What souvenir to buy?"
Speakingat a seminar on tourism products in 2015 in HCM City last month, NguyenViet Anh, Head of the city Department of Tourism's travel division,said the insistence of hawkers is creating a bad impact among foreigntourists.
The People's Committee has tasked his department and other relevant agencies with resolving the problem.
"Thedepartment has worked with the police and district authorities to stopthieves, protect visitors at tourist destinations, and establishvolunteer teams to assist tourists.
"The department is going toset up a tourism support centre, offering not only information, but alsoassisting tourists in case of robbery and loss of identity papers."-VNA
Thecity, which has popular tourism destinations like the Cu Chi guerrillawar place tunnels, Ben Thanh Market, Reunification Palace, has developednew ones like inland waterway tours.
With the Saigon and DongNai rivers flowing through it and a 900km canal system, the city expectswaterway tourism to spearhead the tourism growth.
Nguyen VanDung, Director of Thien Nien Ky Travel Company, said 99 percent ofinternational visitors to the city choose to visit Cu Chi district and90 percent choose to travel to the Mekong River for a day or two.
Tours that help visitors discover the city's history, culture, and food are also popular, he said.
In recent times around 10 travel companies have been offering a new product – seeing the city on a motorbike.
Ittakes tourists through Districts 1, 5, 8, and 7, enabling them todiscover the differences in architecture, culture, and people's livingstyle.
CNN International Edition recently carried a report on how to become a part of Saigon by Steve Mueller.
Muellersays: "Being on a scooter in HCM City is the best way to feel a part ofthe city. It's really an authentic experience. Being side by side withthe locals."
La Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of the cityDepartment of Tourism, said the city has intensified its efforts todiversify tourism products and promotions like the ao dai festival inMarch, Tourism Day in April, Southern Food Festival in May, Southernfruit festival in June, and the HCM City International TourismExhibition in September.
It has also organised severalpromotional programmes in markets like Australia, Japan, the Republic ofKorea, Russia, Eastern Europe, and Indonesia, he added.
These efforts partly explain why the city is regularly named in the list of interesting travel destinations.
Itwas listed as one of the world's 10 fastest-growing destinationsbetween 2009 and 2015, according to MasterCard's annual GlobalDestinations Cities Index.
It was ranked 48th in a list of 50safest cities in the world by the UK's The Economist magazine, whichranked cities around the world using 40 metrics that spanned four maincategories: digital security, health security, infrastructure safety,and personal safety.
Nguyen Van My, the director of Lua VietTours Co, Ltd, said besides its geographical location, the city also hasan advantage over other places like good infrastructure andfriendliness and professionalism of service at shopping places andrestaurants.
But the city has to fix some shortcomings if itwants to "fly high", he said, referring to unclean restrooms and toiletsat tourist destinations, robberies, begging, and traffic jams.
"The city's tourism strategists have not come up with a specific strategy to make the sector outstanding.
"The simple thing they have to do is answer common questions visitors ask – what to eat? Where to go? What souvenir to buy?"
Speakingat a seminar on tourism products in 2015 in HCM City last month, NguyenViet Anh, Head of the city Department of Tourism's travel division,said the insistence of hawkers is creating a bad impact among foreigntourists.
The People's Committee has tasked his department and other relevant agencies with resolving the problem.
"Thedepartment has worked with the police and district authorities to stopthieves, protect visitors at tourist destinations, and establishvolunteer teams to assist tourists.
"The department is going toset up a tourism support centre, offering not only information, but alsoassisting tourists in case of robbery and loss of identity papers."-VNA
