Since the beginning of 2023, the number of searches for Vietnam tourism has continuously increased, making it the only destination in Southeast Asia to be among the world's top growth destinations. And Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most searched destinations by tourists. Never before have tourism products in the city been as numerous and diverse as they are today. If we focus on investing in improving quality and increasing connectivity with regions, it will create a strong push.
Promoting regional connectivity
In 2023, the tourism industry of Ho Chi Minh City aims to welcome about 5 million international visitors; 35 million domestic visitors. Figures for the first 9 months of the year show that the city's tourism industry welcomed about 3.56 million international visitors and nearly 27 million domestic visitors. Although the number of international tourists increased by 69% over the same period last year, the annual target has not yet been reached.
Speaking to a reporter from the Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, Deputy General Director of Vietravel Tourism Company, analyzed that tourists coming to Ho Chi Minh City are mainly MICE visitors (visitors attending conferences, seminars combined with tourism, vacation); visitors combining business, looking for investment opportunities combined with tourism... so the inter-regional connection factor is very important. Visitors to the city will continue to other destinations such as Ho Tram, Vung Tau, Phan Thiet for vacation. Recently, some expressways have been put into operation such as Dau Giay - Phan Thiet, contributing to facilitating this flow of visitors, but it is still not enough, so more investment in traffic infrastructure is needed to support tourism in the city.
Ho Chi Minh City needs to speed up inter-regional connectivity to build common tourism product packages.
"It's not that the city's tourism industry is not doing well, but partly due to the impact of objective market factors when there is a lack of Eastern European and Northern European tourists... This tourist market really likes to come to the city and then go to nearby resorts like Ho Tram. However, after COVID-19, the needs and tastes of tourists have changed, so the city also needs to have solutions to exploit many other tourist markets," said Ms. Phuong Hoang.
For example, the current good growth of international visitors to Vietnam is from Korea, India... They really like Da Nang, Nha Trang, how can Ho Chi Minh City also welcome more of these visitors? Or to attract more MICE visitors, it is necessary to accelerate inter-regional connections with other localities, build common tourism product packages, promote together to attract visitors to the city and then spread to other localities. When infrastructure develops, businesses will build suitable tourism products to meet the needs of visitors.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Man, Director of Communications and Marketing, TSTtourist Travel Company, also commented that Ho Chi Minh City has a lot of tourism products, but to increase competitiveness and attractiveness, it is necessary to connect with neighboring provinces and cities such as the Southeast region, the Mekong Delta, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, etc. Tourism linkage goes hand in hand with specific requirements for promotion to have a two-way flow of visitors from localities back to the city.
Linking tourism and culinary promotion
From the perspective of experts and businesses, the city's tourism products are not lacking, even a lot with recent efforts, especially after COVID-19. However, to become an attractive product for domestic and international visitors, competing with other destinations, Mr. Tran Quang Duy, Director of Penguin Tourism Company, said that more activities and more diversity are needed for each new tourism product. For example, the Saigon Special Forces tour program, which has its own appeal and "no duplicates" in the past, needs to increase the content of experiences and interactions for visitors.
River tourism is one of the products with great potential to attract tourists.
"River tourism is also a product with great potential to attract tourists, but it is currently suitable for international visitors due to cost factors and high tour prices. Therefore, to bring river tourism closer to tourists, it is necessary for the participation of relevant parties to reduce tour prices while still ensuring the best experience for tourists," said Mr. Duy.
To develop the city’s tourism even more strongly, according to experts, businesses need to promote inter-regional connectivity, connect destinations with resort chains, etc. to create good product packages along with promotion and connection. Promote and promote at this time to welcome guests next year and in the years to come. For each market, there needs to be a suitable and specific promotion strategy.
Regarding the flow of Chinese tourists, Ms. Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang said that this year the country's tourism industry focuses on the domestic market, so in 2024 the flow of Chinese tourists traveling abroad could be very large. The flow of tourists from Korea, Thailand, Taiwan (China), India... after vacationing in neighboring destinations, how to attract them back to Ho Chi Minh City?
Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, proposed that the city's destination promotion strategy should focus on markets near and near the city that are of great interest to visitors, such as Korea, Japan, China, India, Thailand, etc. For example, Malaysian and Thai visitors love shopping, so the city needs a solution to maximize this hobby, so that visitors spend more. Tourist needs after COVID-19 have changed along with economic difficulties, so visitors also tend to tighten their spending, switching to traveling to nearby markets.
Cuisine is one of the strengths of Vietnam's tourism industry.
"In particular, cuisine is one of the strengths of Vietnam's tourism industry, and Ho Chi Minh City can be said to be a culinary paradise, with enough potential to attract tourists. The Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association has recently organized many culinary festivals to introduce cuisine and promote the image of destinations with specialized festivals such as the bread festival. Coming up is the 2023 Vietnamese Culinary Culture Festival, contributing to connecting Vietnamese culture with the world," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh.
Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that the city has linked tourism development with many localities across the country. In particular, regional linkage is a very important highlight, especially the linkage of human resources that has supported the city a lot. The Mekong Delta and the Southeast are two priority regions connecting tourism with short-term and long-term products of the city.
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