Ho Chi Minh City "learns from Thailand's tour/route problem" when building a tourism development plan

At the regular meeting in August 2024 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Director of the Department of Tourism reported that in preparation for the 2024 International Tourism Fair (ITE), the Department of Tourism has coordinated with departments, branches and sectors to organize receptions for delegations and a number of activities, and is basically ready for the opening. Currently, the Department has welcomed 5/7 international delegation leaders to attend, 220 international buyers. This year, ITE also welcomed many international corporations, the world's leading travel corporations from Germany, the US and Australia to attend the Fair. The number of international press attending ITE is also larger than previous times. Notably, for the first time, CNN sent a press group to work throughout the event.

The Director of the Department of Tourism also said that this year, the Department of Tourism will coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade to organize a gift and souvenir exhibition. Seminars, events, and sideline exchange activities will increase by 20% compared to 2023 with 30 activities. In particular, the series of seminars on sustainable tourism with the participation of prestigious speakers, the Department of Tourism hopes that from here, there will be an absorption and learning of international experiences to build policy mechanisms, perfect the project that the Department of Tourism is implementing to build a breakthrough policy mechanism for tourism in the coming time.

Reporting on the preparation for the tourism week, the Director of the Department of Tourism said that the Department has developed a plan to send to departments, districts for comments, and is implementing it in coordination with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, districts, and businesses to build a series of activities to attract tourists at the end of the year, in addition to activities by Vietnam Airlines, music performances by Vingroup, etc.

The Department's leaders also said that in early October, a competition will be launched to design tours/tour routes to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification, and will be announced during the tourism week to attract tourists next year.

In the last months of the year, the Department is coordinating with the Mekong Delta provinces, especially Can Tho, to organize a tourism week in Can Tho in the fourth quarter of 2024. For the Southeast provinces, the Department is coordinating with Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai provinces to implement the Holiday Road plan, selecting typical destinations and accommodations in the three localities. Ms. Anh Hoa also emphasized that this is "learning from the math of Thailand's tours/routes, when tourists come to Bangkok-Thailand, they always choose Pattaya", so when tourists come to Ho Chi Minh City-Vietnam, they will choose to add support areas for Ho Chi Minh City tourism to build this plan.

Regarding State management, the Department of Tourism is coordinating with the Ho Chi Minh City Police to carry out a special project to handle illegal and undercover businesses, especially foreign businesses.

Emphasizing the organization of events, including ITE, Chairman of the City People's Committee Phan Van Mai requested: "When we organize events, aiming to become an Event City, we must increasingly clarify the economic factors of events and calculate economic efficiency." Mr. Phan Van Mai also welcomed the Director of the Department of Tourism for studying the tourism strategies of Thailand and some countries, to create links between Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of the Southeast and the Mekong Delta.

In the last months of the year, Chairman Phan Van Mai suggested that, regarding tourism linkage, the Department of Tourism should coordinate with Can Tho to review, thereby consolidating the tourism strategy of Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, and redrawing the tourism map. "If possible, at the end of November, combine with the Mekong Connect event chaired by the Department of Industry and Trade, coordinate with the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises to organize the event, creating a tourism chain linked at Mekong Connect", said Mr. Phan Van Mai.

In the first 8 months of 2024, Ho Chi Minh City tourism welcomed more than 23 million domestic visitors.

Ho Chi Minh City's socio-economic situation report for August and the first 8 months of 2024 shows that in August, the City continued its concentrated promotion program (phase 01 took place from June 15 to September 15) with many incentive packages and large promotions for consumers. Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue maintained a stable growth rate, estimated to increase by 5.2% in August compared to the previous month and 12.1% over the same period, with a total increase of 10.3% in the first 8 months of 2024 over the same period, of which tourism service revenue increased by a high rate of 65.8%.

Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in August 2024 is estimated at VND 105,853 billion, up 5.2% over the previous month and 12.1% over the same period. In the first 8 months of 2024, total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue is estimated at VND 765,233 billion, up 10.3% over the same period.

Of which, retail sales of goods in August 2024 are estimated at VND 49,055 billion, accounting for 46.3% of total retail sales of goods and consumer services revenue, up 5.7% over the previous month and up 14.0% over the same period. During the month, shopping in many product groups remained bustling, most products had increased revenue over the same period, except for household appliances, tools and equipment and cultural and educational items, which decreased slightly. Some product groups accounted for a high proportion and increased over the same period, such as food and foodstuffs accounting for 30.8%, up 14.8%; precious stones, precious metals and products accounting for 9.3%, up 27.4%; other product groups accounting for 11.3%, up 48.7%; and garments accounting for 5.6%, up 3.3%.

In the first 8 months of 2024, retail sales of goods are estimated at VND 362,888 billion, up 10.3% over the same period. Of which, the 2 groups of goods with the highest proportion are food, foodstuff and household appliances, tools and equipment with increases of 10.7% and 9.7% respectively.

Revenue from accommodation and catering services in August 2024 is estimated at VND 12,491 billion, accounting for 11.8% of total retail sales of goods and consumer services revenue, up 6.8% over the previous month and up 13.5% over the same period. Of which, accommodation revenue increased by 2.1% over the previous month and up 7.7% over the same period; catering service revenue increased by 7.4% over the previous month and up 14.2% over the same period.

In the first 8 months of 2024, accommodation and food service revenue is estimated at VND 87,046 billion, up 8.9% over the same period. Of which, accommodation increased by 31.2% and food service increased by 6.2%.

Travel services in August 2024 are estimated at VND 3,942 billion, down 14.5% compared to the previous month and up 58.6% over the same period. In the first 8 months of 2024, travel services revenue is estimated at VND 27,980 billion, up 65.8% over the same period.

Revenue from other services in August 2024 is estimated at VND 40,365 billion, up 6.3% over the previous month and 6.5% over the same period. In the first 8 months of 2024, revenue from other services is estimated at VND 287,319 billion, up 7.0%. Of which, revenue from real estate business is estimated at VND 173,004 billion, accounting for 60.2% of revenue from other services, up 6.1% over the same period; administrative and support services increased by 9.0%; education and training increased by 9.3%; healthcare increased by 7.2%; arts, entertainment and recreation increased by 7.4%.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/tphcm-hoc-bai-toan-cac-tour-tuyen-cua-thai-lan-khi-xay-dung-ke-hoach-phat-trien-du-lich-20240904141452853.htm