Tourism fair in full swing in HCM City

A wide range of vibrant activities are being held within the 20th Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Fair, which kicked off on April 4 to promote the southern metroplis as a safe, attractive and hospitable destination for both domestic and foreign visitors.

Over 150 booths are arranged at the four-day fair where 50 vendors from 45 cities and provinces are touting promotion tourism programmes and products to the visitors.

Nearly 400 low-cost tours, travel vouchers and discounted tourism services are on sale at the event, with a total value of some 50 billion VND (2 million USD).

Along with packages with steep discounts, there are many gifts and lucky draws which are expected to bring fascinating experience to visitors.

Travel firms reported handsome sales right on the first day of the fair as their packages were sold like hot cakes, earning them more than 26.3 billion VND in revenue, up 49% year-on-year.

The event features acoustic and stilt walking performances, an exchange programme to introduce culture and destinations of different localities and various tourism promotion workshops, among others.

A highlight of this year's fair is a tourism career exchange that helps connect travel businesses with workers and students.

According to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan, as a tourism hub of the country, HCM City has worked to develop specific plans and actions to bolster tourism post pandemic.

The fair is expected to enhance cooperation between travel firms and promote regional linkages so as to improve tourism offerings’ quality and competitive edge, he said.

In Q1, HCM City welcomed 1.38 million tourist arrivals, a year-on-year surge of 32.4% and accounting for 30% of the country’s total international visitors. Meanwhile, it served over 8 million domestic arrivals, up 6.6% from the same time last year.

Tourism revenue was 44.7 trillion VND in the period, rising 23.8% year-on-year and making up 23.7% of the country’s total earnings./