Ho Chi Minh City: Tourist hotspot welcomes grand festival, once in 50 years

Spanish tourists take photos with a group of Vietnamese tourists visiting Nguyen Hue walking street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of April 12 - Photo: QUANG DINH

As planned, Ho Chi Minh City will organize a grand ceremony with many large-scale events and for the first time in history, entertaining residents and tourists.

Stay in Ho Chi Minh City because "it only happens once in 50 years"

These days, Tuoi Tre newspaper recorded that the festive atmosphere in Ho Chi Minh City this year has spread throughout all the streets. People and tourists have to take alternative routes when entering the section from Le Duan to Alexandre De Rhodes; or Han Thuyen to Le Duan because the city is constructing a stage and stands to organize the festive activities on Pasteur Street.

Walking along Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street and seeing tents already set up, Ms. Nguyen Ai Van (bank employee, District 4) decided that this year, on the occasion of April 30, she would stay in Ho Chi Minh City to "enjoy" the big holiday.

She said: "Every year, at the beginning of April, my family of four siblings buy tickets to go to places with cool climates or to the beach. But even though this year we have 5 days off, the whole family decided to stay in Ho Chi Minh City to enjoy the holiday. Because it only happens once every 50 years, as a resident of the city, I want to enjoy historical milestones that are hard to experience a second time."

Ms. LTT planned to take her whole family to Sa Pa ( Lao Cai province) for the April 30 holiday this year, but changed at the last minute.

"I gave the ticket back to my friend and didn't go anywhere during the holiday but stayed in Ho Chi Minh City. My child said he was overwhelmed when he heard thousands of people in the parade and marching and had never witnessed it in person, so how could my whole family miss such a big event?", said Ms. LTT.

According to the plan of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the parade is one of the seven contents of the national celebration on Le Duan Street, in front of Thong Nhat Hall. The parade is expected to start at 8am on April 30.

The program has many contents including: firing 21 cannons to the national anthem; air force salute; parade of model cars of the national emblem, Party flag, and national flag; car carrying portrait of President Ho Chi Minh , model car symbolizing the 50th anniversary of National Reunification Day; parade of military, militia and self-defense forces; parade of police; parade of mass groups.

As for the parade, tourists and people will admire the image of 5 armies marching to Saigon 50 years ago. Ho Chi Minh City takes advantage of technology, arranges locations, and installs LED screens so that people and tourists can watch live or watch aircraft performances and celebrations, parades, and marches anywhere...

On the occasion of the grand ceremony, many foreign guests and locals experienced visiting Thong Nhat Hall, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, on the afternoon of April 12 - Photo: QUANG DINH

More tours to explore Saigon through a new lens

To welcome the flow of visitors staying in Ho Chi Minh City as well as visitors from afar, Ho Chi Minh City tourism companies simultaneously launched a series of cultural and historical tours to explore the inner city. A company specializing in exporting leather shoes in Quang Ngai province decided to let a group of nearly 50 people visit and travel to Ho Chi Minh City on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

"The group of 50 people had some who had not been to the city, or had come and gone in a hurry, so on the occasion of April 30 this year, we had 4 days to visit places in the city center, event venues, and experience metro lines.

When planning, the company quickly decided on a location because they immediately thought of Ho Chi Minh City, the "center" of tourism in the country during the big holidays," said Mr. KTH, a union member of the company.

According to Ms. Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang - Deputy General Director of Vietravel, to increase the interesting experience for domestic tourists when coming to Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate the great festival, the company has many new products.

Including a series of products such as: Connecting memories of Ho Chi Minh City, enjoying breakfast with the essence of old Saigon; going to Cu Chi to experience the traditional historical stage; or exploring Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City through a new lens such as metro, Saigon Waterbus, Ao Dai Museum... to explore the colorful city.

"For Vietravel tourists in Ho Chi Minh City, at 11:30 on April 30, they will experience a memorable historical moment of the S-shaped country," Ms. Hoang said about the special experience that Vietravel offers tourists.

Also offering a unique inner-city tour package, Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, representative of Vietluxtour, informed that on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of national reunification, Vietluxtour has a special promotion for the Saigon Special Forces tour package, Saigon past and present, Saigon - Cho Lon Memories...

"Vietluxtour is promoting a series of tours specializing in Saigon's culture and history, which is both a story of 50 years of history and a highlight for domestic and international tourists with a typical product line associated with the company's brand.

These routes are not only for group tours but are also organized according to the individual needs of corporate and group customers in and outside Ho Chi Minh City. This is a unique product line that Vietluxtour has developed in the inbound and domestic markets for many years," Ms. Thu informed.

Ms. Thu also emphasized that the business has high expectations for the special attraction for tourists in the program "Legend of the Heroes" which has just won an award in the contest "Designing a tourism program to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification" organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism.

Guiding visitors to understand the historical and cultural values, exploiting the potential and advantages of the city's tourism resources, especially Can Gio district, Vietluxtour will take visitors to the historical relic of Sac Forest - the base of Sac Forest Group 10, associated with the heroic battles of special forces; Can Gio monkey island; Rung Sac heroic martyrs temple; Cu Chi tunnels; Independence Palace historical relic...

According to records, the trend of "flocking" to Ho Chi Minh City for tourism on the occasion of April 30 and May 1 is not only domestic tourists from companies organizing events such as reward tourism, Party admission, and returning to the source, but many inbound tourist groups (international visitors to Vietnam) also register to experience tour programs associated with history.

This April, Du Ngoan Viet Tourism Company (District 7) will welcome nearly 3,000 international visitors to Vietnam. Mr. Phan Xuan Anh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Du Ngoan Viet Tourism Company, said that most visitors come to Ho Chi Minh City by sea and are very excited to set foot in Ho Chi Minh City during the big holiday.

"As people in the tourism business, when Ho Chi Minh City has big events, businesses increase integration into tourism products. It's like opening a store, you need many items to attract customers. Just by placing a sign "Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City" at Saigon port, international visitors will rush to check-in. That means customers are very excited, and on the occasion of a big holiday, the company has many tour packages to impress international visitors," Mr. Xuan Anh shared.

Tourists visit the house on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. This is where the weapons bunker was used by Saigon commandos to attack the Independence Palace - Photo: TTD

Transforming historical memories into vivid experiences for visitors

Speaking to Tuoi Tre , Mr. Vo Trong Nam, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City, said that he had submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee a list of art programs and events on the occasion of the April 30 holiday. According to Mr. Nam, the list of events is the "record" one ever, combined with promoting tourism in the city.

On April 30, the celebration will include a 30-minute art program hosted by Ho Chi Minh City; a parade and march ending with a balloon and dove release; cultural activities on Nguyen Hue walking street such as displaying works of art, photo exhibitions, street art performances (including singing, circus) and many other entertainment activities; or a light show using 10,500 drones creating unique images in the sky, contributing to enriching the festival atmosphere; a fireworks display scheduled at 7 locations in the city...

As a unit that "receives" the strong spread of art events for tourism impact, Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification is a special occasion for the city to connect the flow of history with modern vitality.

"We introduce a set of tourism products with the theme "50 years - 50 emotional destinations", exploiting routes associated with urban memories such as: Legendary basements, historic Go Mon or A corner of green Saigon... combining traditional values ​​and new experiences.

In addition, Ho Chi Minh City also promotes river tourism, upgrading 14 existing routes and opening 22 more regional and international connecting routes. The communication campaign "Find Your Vibe - Find the right quality, touch the right feeling" was launched with CGI technology film, photo series of 50 destinations and digital content with emotional, modern and unique messages. Ho Chi Minh City not only celebrates history, but also transforms memories into vivid experiences for tourists today," said Mr. Hoa.

According to Mr. Hoa, in the coming time, Ho Chi Minh City will focus on promoting the strategy: renewing old places, creating new experiences. Monuments, urban architecture, cultural communities... will be redesigned as night experiences, telling stories using interactive technology, lighting and visual arts.

Key product groups including: MICE tourism, river tourism, healthcare and community ecology, meeting the trend of personalized and sustainable tourism... will be "fueled" by tourism activities on the occasion of April 30 this year.

To ensure that tourists have a safe and enjoyable experience during the April 30 holiday, Mr. Hoa said the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism will send a dispatch to tourism businesses to implement solutions to improve service quality, diversify products, and prevent price increases and price gouging.

"Strengthening food hygiene and safety, strictly checking food from input, preservation and processing of finished products, ensuring absolute hygiene and food safety at tourist accommodation establishments, restaurants serving tourists... are things that businesses need to pay special attention to as the city enters the "central" days of the year," Mr. Hoa emphasized.

Difficult to book hotel room in the center

At this time, according to tourists, it is very difficult to book good, convenient locations to watch fireworks at some restaurants and hotels along Ton Duc Thang Street, Nguyen Hue Walking Street (District 1)...

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi An - from Quang Ngai province, since the beginning of April, she has chosen a hotel in the center so that she can go to Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate the holiday and watch the parade, but the press rooms are full, even the 4 - 5 star hotels.

According to a representative of the Continental Saigon Hotel (Dong Khoi Street, District 1), the hotel has been fully booked since early April. This is the year the hotel has had the earliest occupancy rate during the April 30 holiday. Since mid-March, the units have linked accommodation with the hotel, and in early April, they have deposited and signed contracts for high-end, high-segment customers.

During the April 30 and May 1 holidays in 2024, Ho Chi Minh City's tourism revenue will reach VND3,235 billion (VND3,130 billion in 2023), an increase of 3.4% over the same period in 2023. Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism expects revenue for the April 30 holiday this year to be "bumper" and lead the country from the positive results of the first quarter as a "warm-up" for the big holiday.

Ho Chi Minh City will welcome a large number of international visitors on the occasion of April 30th holiday.

Tourists coming to Ho Chi Minh City during the winter holidays have a shortage of hotel rooms in the central area, afternoon of April 12 - Photo: QUANG DINH

The sales director of a hotel chain in District 1 said that since the beginning of April, the hotel has welcomed many groups of tourists from Hanoi. They shared that they wanted to come to the city to take photos with the symbols, mainly the Thong Nhat Hall. "The guests are young people, so they hired makeup artists, prepared costumes and photographers to have a photo album in the right atmosphere to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country," he said.

Along with domestic tourists coming to Ho Chi Minh City to watch the parade and art activities, the number of international tourists coming to the city on the occasion of April 30th is expected to increase sharply.

Room fire on April 30 and May 1

According to the Department of Tourism, international visitors to the city usually stay for 5-7 days, participating in journeys to explore Ho Chi Minh City through city tours. Currently, a series of high-end hotels in Ho Chi Minh City recorded a "full room" situation on the night of April 29 and 30, especially rooms with ideal views to watch the historic parade.

A representative of Grand Hotel Saigon (District 1) said that the room capacity was fully booked during the period of April 30 and May 1. Of which, April 30 reached over 70% room capacity and May 1 was fully booked. This is quite rare in previous years.

To serve the needs of people watching parades and fireworks, the hotel has a buffet party program "Unification Concert - 50 years of resounding forever" with the price of 2.3 million VND/person excluding taxes and fees.

"We have discounts for guests staying as well as early bookers. So far, tickets for the program have been selling very well," said a representative of this hotel.

With its central location, the Rex Saigon Hotel was also fully booked on April 30 and May 1, including the presidential suite with a listed price of VND51 million/night. The restaurant on the upper floors of the hotel launched an impressive dinner party program with tickets starting at VND2.5 million/person.

On-site catering and accommodation services are booming.

A representative of Mia Saigon Hotel (Thu Duc City) said that although it is not located in the center of the parade, the hotel's room occupancy rate still reached 90% in April thanks to the staycation trend.

On this occasion, to serve the needs of guests, the hotel reopened the service of picking up and dropping off guests by speedboat from Bach Dang wharf, with an average of 3 departures and 3 return trips per day.

Additionally, the riverside restaurant Kitchen by The River is open throughout the holidays and offers a special BBQ menu in the evenings. "We do not charge holiday surcharges," he said.

In addition to offering a buffet party package on holidays, the Majestic Saigon Hotel (District 1) also offers a breakfast combo package on April 30 and May 1 for VND600,000/guest. This service is to serve more outside guests who choose to spend the holidays in the city, wanting to join friends and family in the atmosphere of the city's historic days. For many months, this hotel has been fully booked on April 29, 30 and May 1, of which 80% of the guests booking rooms are from international groups.

According to hotels, normally every year, on the occasion of April 30 and May 1, the occupancy rate of inner-city hotels is only about 40-55%, because this is the time after the peak season for international visitors and people tend to travel far away. Therefore, this year's developments are quite exciting for tourism in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tp-hcm-diem-nong-du-lich-don-dai-le-50-nam-moi-co-mot-lan-20250413080020739.htm