Ho Chi Minh City tourism revenue highest in 5 years

Although the number of visitors is not equal to before the pandemic, Ho Chi Minh City's tourism revenue increased by 25% compared to before the pandemic, reaching 160,000 billion VND in 2023.

In the first 6 months of the year, Ho Chi Minh City achieved the highest tourism revenue in the country with more than 80,800 billion VND, an increase of 163% over the same period in 2019. The city's tourism revenue continued to grow in the next 6 months and reached 160,000 billion VND in 2023. This figure increased by 22% compared to last year, increased by 25% compared to 2019 and was the highest in the 5 years from 2019 to 2023.

Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, assessed that the city achieved revenue growth thanks to three main factors. The first is thanks to the process of building tourism products since the pandemic. When tourism opened, the Department of Tourism and travel businesses in the city conducted field surveys, evaluated and redefined tours and tourism products, and implemented a plan for each district to have a typical tourism product. Thanks to this plan, the city formed a set of tourism products so that businesses have resources to exploit inner-city tours, customers have more options, thereby spending more on entertainment and exploration activities.

A group of 200 cruise ship passengers explored the inner-city waterway tour of Ho Chi Minh City in November. Photo: Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism

Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour, said that the company offers many inner-city tours in districts and counties in Ho Chi Minh City such as city tours in District 1, District 5, and tours in Cu Chi and Can Gio in the suburbs. These are all popular products, with domestic tourists accounting for about 70% and foreign tourists booking tours at 30%. At the end of December, the company also launched a tour to explore District 1 at night and was well received by many tourists. Tours in Ho Chi Minh City mainly last half a day to a day. Tourists will then book combos and tours to other provinces and cities.

The second factor affecting tourism revenue in Ho Chi Minh City is thanks to regional linkage activities. Ho Chi Minh City regularly connects with tourist destinations across the country such as the West and Northwest. Businesses have the conditions to sell more tours, both tours into the city and tours out of the city. Mr. Hoa said that Ho Chi Minh City is often chosen by tourists as a stopover to travel to other regions.

The third factor is that the night economy is invested more, creating momentum for the city's tourism revenue. The spending needs of tourists at night in Ho Chi Minh City account for about 70% of the spending on a tour. The spending level during the day accounts for 30% because tourists mainly visit the landmarks and eat according to the all-inclusive program. In the evening, tourists have free time, outside the program, to explore other activities.

Ben Thanh Market food court after 9pm. Photo: BIch Phuong

In the last 3 months of the year, Ho Chi Minh City has continuously launched night tourism products such as the District 1 Night Colors tour and the "Sleepless Saigon" tour, taking tourists through 30 routes and nearly 20 sightseeing spots on a double-decker bus, operating from 11pm to 7am the next day.

Mr. Nguyen Khoa Luan, Director of Anh Viet Hop on Hop off Vietnam Company, the service provider, said that Ho Chi Minh City is "a rare land in the world that converges many factors for night-time economic development". The use of double-decker buses helps exploit the city's night-time economy, creating connections between service supply chains, thereby promoting tourism development and service consumption.

In addition, increasing the frequency and service time of double-decker buses can enhance competition with countries in the region to attract international tourists to Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam, contributing to increasing foreign currency revenue for the city.

According to the Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, in December, the city's tourism industry organized many events such as tourism week, opening of Phan Xich Long food street, Phu Nhuan district, and New Year's countdown festival. Event-based tourism is one of the seven pillars of the city's tourism development. From mid-November to the end of the year is the peak of "event after event". This is also the time when the city's tourism revenue peaks.

The diversity of tourism products and events also helps Ho Chi Minh City welcome a large number of international visitors in 2023, estimated at 5 million, an increase of 44.3% over last year, accounting for nearly 50% of international visitors to the country in the past 11 months.

However, Mr. Hoa assessed that this ratio is "not new" to Ho Chi Minh City, the number of international visitors to this locality always accounts for about 50% of the number of international visitors in the whole country. Ho Chi Minh City is a tourist gateway, Tan Son Nhat airport has the highest passenger traffic in the country.

During the two upcoming major holidays, New Year and Lunar New Year, Ho Chi Minh City expects to achieve revenue of about VND15,000 billion. On average, revenue from these two occasions always accounts for about 8-9% of the annual revenue. In 2024, the city expects higher expectations due to the full reopening of flights and visa policies from August 15 creating favorable conditions for foreign visitors.

"In November and December 2022, the city's room occupancy rate was only about 60-70%, and it increased to 85% in early 2023. Since the beginning of December this year, many large hotels in the city center have been fully booked, so we can expect occupancy rates for the next two Tet holidays to reach more than 90%," said Mr. Hoa.

Bich Phuong

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