Tourism innovates its methods and works together to overcome difficulties.

Positive signals for the tourism market.

Not sitting idly by and saying "no" to the crisis is the common mindset of many travel agencies and tourism businesses in Ho Chi Minh City. In the face of difficulties, these businesses have proactively and flexibly promoted the domestic market, innovated products, and designed tours and routes suitable for pandemic prevention and control requirements. This effort has initially yielded optimistic and positive signals from the market, with a recent recovery in tour bookings, especially during the recent National Day holiday on September 2nd.

Tourists participate in a tour of Ho Chi Minh City on an open-top double-decker bus.

Currently, tourism products mainly focus on services for families and small groups, with short-day packages and services within the city and some neighboring provinces. Most tourists choose nearby tours to safe areas for experiences such as: Con Dao (Ba Ria -Vung Tau ), Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), the "Endless Fields" landmark, and the Rach Cat Fortress (Long An), the largest in Indochina. Along with these are city tours such as: the Saigon Water Bus - Ao Dai Museum, the "Following the Footsteps of the Saigon Commandos" tour, visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels historical site, exploring the city by open-top double-decker bus (Hop on-Hop off), "Watching the Sunset" or "Watching Saigon at Night" on the Indochina Junk cruise ship, and boat trips on the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal…

As one of the pioneering units in product innovation, Mr. Nguyen Minh Man, Head of Communications and Marketing Department of TST Tourism and Trade Service Joint Stock Company (TST Tourist), shared: “The trend and demand of tourists is to choose nearby and safe destinations. TST Tourist has prepared a system of tourism products according to market demand and the trend of safe tourism. The good news is that the number of tour bookings has increased again. We expect to reach 60% of our plan in the remaining time of 2020.”

Mr. Tran The Dung, General Director of Fiditour Travel Joint Stock Company, said: “The company has launched many product packages to meet the travel needs of each target group, along with support services such as hotel booking and car rental. We are proactively seeking more new markets, designing tours to safe areas, and preparing to build promotional programs after the pandemic is brought under control.”

You may also like

Quang Ngai aims to become a prominent domestic and international destination.By 2045, Quang Ngai province aims to welcome approximately 30 million tourists, including 2 million international visitors; achieve tourism revenue of around 28,000 billion VND; and contribute about 10% to the province's GRDP.

Ho Chi Minh City offers many incentives for city tours during the September 2nd holiday.On the afternoon of August 29th, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism announced that, in order to implement the policy of both preventing and controlling the epidemic while restoring economic development and production, and at the same time creating interesting destinations for tourists during the National Day holiday on September 2nd, travel and service businesses in Ho Chi Minh City will continue to introduce diverse products and preferential services and promotions to tourists.

Which spas are reputable when traveling to Ho Chi Minh City? Suggestions for destinations where you can relax and beautify yourself at the same time.If you're planning a visit to Ho Chi Minh City to explore its cuisine, culture, and famous attractions, taking time to pamper yourself is also a great idea. This vibrant city is not only a shopping and entertainment paradise, but also boasts many spas catering to the beauty and relaxation needs of tourists. Among them, Juna Spa is a worthwhile destination for those who want to enjoy their vacation while also taking care of their skin and body.

The demand for group family trips within Ho Chi Minh City is on the rise again.

Working together to overcome difficulties.

Ho Chi Minh City is one of the localities with the largest number of travel businesses in the country and is being heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. With only about four months left in 2020, many targets regarding international tourists and total tourism revenue have yet to reach 50% of the 2020 plan. Authorities and travel businesses are implementing various solutions to help businesses survive and thrive. However, the current difficulty is that it is the low season for tourism, so small businesses will face significant challenges.

As a business suffering significant losses, Ms. Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Transport and Tourism Marketing Joint Stock Company (Vietravel), stated that businesses in transportation, accommodation, travel, and entertainment need support in accessing loans to facilitate recovery. Policies supporting tax reductions for businesses and support packages for tour guides are also needed, as currently 80% to 90% of this workforce is unemployed due to the pandemic. Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh, Standing Vice President of the City Tourism Association, said: “The Association has just sent a document to tourism management agencies and tourism associations nationwide, urging service providers to share the losses and damages with businesses.”

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism has issued a document guiding the implementation of the set of criteria for assessing the level of safety in COVID-19 prevention and control in the tourism sector, with some adjustments to suit the actual developments of the pandemic. The Department has updated the new programs of travel agencies, hotels, transportation units, etc., at the address: www.kichcaudulichtphcm.vn to best serve the information needs of tourists. The city's tourism industry is also urgently preparing the remaining tourism promotion programs in 2020, such as: the Ao Dai Festival, the Techcombank Ho Chi Minh City International Marathon…

On September 9th, at a meeting on the socio-economic situation of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Department of Tourism reported that in the first eight months of 2020, the number of international visitors to the city reached over 1.3 million (a decrease of 76.4% compared to the same period last year), and tourism revenue reached VND 47,423 billion (a decrease of 48.2% compared to the same period last year). It is expected that in early October, the Department of Tourism, in coordination with the City Tourism Association, will organize the second Ho Chi Minh City Domestic Tourism Stimulus Program 2020 to promote and communicate "Ho Chi Minh City - A Safe Destination".

United States - Vietnam: Don't miss

Vietnam encourages US businesses to expand investment in high technology.On the morning of June 26th, at the Government Headquarters, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung received Mr. Jeff Place, Supply Chain Director of Coherent Group (USA). During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam encourages US businesses to expand investment, especially in high-tech, innovation, and semiconductor industries.

Encourage U.S. businesses to expand investment in high-tech sectors.Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung said that Vietnam welcomes US businesses to continue expanding their operations in Vietnam, especially in high-tech industries and sectors with high added value.