As HCMC has successfully recovered its tourism to the time before the Covid-19 pandemic, Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Dung informed that in the first eight months of this year, the city welcomed more than 3.4 million international tourists, a rise of 21 percent compared to this time last year, along with over 23 million national ones. The revenue of this sector is estimated to reach VND123 trillion (US$5 million), an increase of 15 percent year over year and 32.3 percent as opposed to 2019.
Tourism trends have also evolved into more sustainable practices that protect the environment, natural resources, and local cultures. 97 percent of Vietnamese tourists surveyed expressed a desire for more sustainable travel in the next 12 months, 75 percent said they were willing to pay more for certified sustainable travel options, and 83 percent displayed a desire to contribute to making their destination cleaner and greener after their visit.
The Vice Chairman then mentioned the most recent awards of HCMC, namely six prestigious awards at the World Travel Awards in Manila, the Philippines, and the World MICE Awards, which clearly recognizes the efforts of the tourism industry and related sectors, in HCMC. These validate the city’s strategy of developing key tourism products aligned with the city's strengths including festival - event tourism, MICE tourism, and business tourism.
To further promote and develop these key products, the municipal People's Committee has tasked the Department of Tourism with coordinating with other departments to develop policies and implement comprehensive solutions, including integrating tourism development with the city's socioeconomic and overall development plans.
Answering the question about HCMC’s targeted international market, Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Dung shared that after frequent market research, the city’s current priority in tourism is holidaymakers from Northeast Asia (Japan, the Republic of Korea, China), North America (the US, Canada), West Europe (Germany, the UK, France), Australia, and Southeast Asia.
Other markets like India and the Middle East are classified as potential ones, leading to more proper promotional tourism campaigns to reach the highest effectiveness.
Regarding ‘green’ tourism, he pointed out that HCMC’s growth is facing numerous challenges, including the imperative of sustainable development. As a comprehensive and highly influential economic sector, tourism is positioned to lead the green transition, aligning with the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Vietnam's commitment to reducing emissions and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Therefore, going green is an inevitable trend to protect natural resources and indigenous culture. In HCMC, when it comes to green spaces, tourists are impressed by destinations like Cu Chi District and Can Gio District, the latter being recognized by UNESCO as Vietnam's first biosphere reserve. Can Gio District is also the pilot area chosen by HCMC to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.
In recent times, there has been a surge in community-based tourism, eco-tourism activities like tree planting, cycling, and environmental cleanup in HCMC. The community-based tourism model in Thieng Lieng Island Hamlet (Thanh An Commune, Can Gio District), which is being developed as a Net Zero destination, has garnered significant attention from tourists and travel businesses.
The recent ITE HCMC 2024 exhibition, themed "Sustainable Tourism, Building the Future," and its accompanying series of forums and workshops on this topic mark a significant step in developing the city's green tourism strategy. This includes reviewing and refining solutions, criteria, and specific action plans, as well as developing dynamic mechanisms and policies to drive the tourism industry forward. This aligns with the National Assembly's Resolution 98/2023/QH15 on piloting specific mechanisms and policies for the development of HCMC.
