Free travel in HCMC

TP - Free Walking Tour is a form of tourism that does not charge money to promote a brand or a locality. The profit is not money from tourists but from the promotion that makes more tourists know, promoting sustainable tourism development through the development of the brand and locality. In Ho Chi Minh City, this form of tourism has appeared and is gradually becoming popular.

Experience… “0 VND” tours

Lan Ho, a Vietnamese Canadian, said that last summer she had an exciting trip back to her homeland. At the end of June 2024, after experiencing the river region of her hometown Ben Tre, she chose Ho Chi Minh City with the plan to spend the last days of her return trip exploring the famous landmarks in this vibrant city. Lan Ho was surprised when she read information about the free walking tour organized by BenThanh Tourist.

“Before returning to Vietnam, I also learned and knew that some Southeast Asian countries organize free tours. However, most of those tours are organized to attract customers to places of sale, similar to some casinos abroad, but there are also free tours for promotion like BenThanh Tourist is organizing. I registered and had a wonderful discovery trip in Ho Chi Minh City,” Lan Ho shared.

“Every time we visit a relic, the free tour guides have interesting stories to tell visitors about the history and unique features of that relic associated with the lives of the people and the development of Ho Chi Minh City.”

Female tourist Lan Ho

On this trip, Lan Ho and other tourists were guided by a tour guide to visit many famous landmarks in Ho Chi Minh City such as Nguyen Hue Walking Street; the ancient building currently serving as the headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the City Theater, the City Post Office , the Reunification Palace... and ended the journey with a wonderful meal of local specialties at Ben Thanh Market. Although it was a free tour, the tour guide was very enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and spoke fluent English...

According to a female tourist from Canada, not all tourists who choose free tours are people without money. They want to join this type of tour to experience and mingle with the locals as companions, not as buyers and sellers. Tourists who join free tours are often history lovers, passionate about cuisine, or simply curious about local culture, and like to see the bustling streets.

Tourists join BenThanh Tourist's Free Walking Tour

Ms. Tran Phuong Linh, representative of BenThanh Tourist, the organizer of Free Walking Tour, said that this is one of the tourism products that aims to create conditions for tourists to have good impressions and a deeper understanding of Ho Chi Minh City - one of the attractive cities in Southeast Asia through a walk through famous landmarks. Free Walking Tour is organized from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day, for all domestic and foreign tourists who want to explore the center of Ho Chi Minh City. In the future, this unit hopes to expand more free tours so that tourists have more opportunities to visit many other tourist attractions in the city.

Tourists on the tour take free photos in front of the Ho Chi Minh City Post Office.

Unique products

In 2017, Vietravel Tourism Company also successfully organized Free Walking Tour in Ho Chi Minh City. According to Vietravel representative, Free Walking Tour helps tourists "slow down", to be able to see, feel and experience the life of the people in the true "local" style on each road they pass. Free Walking Tour explores Saigon, once known as the "Pearl of the Far East" with familiar yet strange street corners, alleys where when walking slowly, tourists will know stories that have never been heard before...

In addition to Ho Chi Minh City, this unit has planned to deploy the Free Walking Tour tourism model to major cities in Vietnam. In each locality, the Free Walking Tour is designed specifically according to the characteristics of that place so that tourists can learn more and experience it. Each walking tour lasts 2-3 hours depending on the specific destination, with a tour guide accompanying... However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the above model has had to be temporarily suspended.

Tourists can visit the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee headquarters for free.

In the world tourism market, the Free Walking Tour model has been implemented in many countries, the most famous of which is Guru Walk - a unit specializing in providing information on free walking tours around the world for tourists. Currently, on the Guru Walk platform, tourists can search, compare and book more than 2,300 Free Walking Tour products in many languages ​​in more than 800 cities in 120 countries around the world, including many localities in Vietnam.

Visitors participating in the Free Walking Tour will be connected directly with local guides, join tours or receive specific advice, enthusiastic help completely free of charge... so that visitors can choose the most suitable tour for their needs.

In April 2024, Guru Walk surveyed and compiled the 100 cities most searched by tourists from April 2023 to April 2024. There were 3 cities in Vietnam on this list, including: Hanoi capital at 42nd place, Hoi An ancient town at 87th place and Ho Chi Minh City at 99th place.

Among them, Ho Chi Minh City is considered by tourists as the "city that never sleeps" with countless fun activities and discoveries at night. Many attractions and entertainment spots are located close to each other, very convenient for tourists to walk and experience and explore the city.

According to some tourism experts, the Guru Walk platform's implementation of the Free Walking Tour model in Vietnam has created opportunities for many tourists to explore, discover and experience many new lands in Vietnam. This is similar to some other tourism platforms such as Agoda, AirBnB, Booking, Traveloca... that have been present and operating strongly in the Vietnamese tourism market. This shows the diversity and integration of Vietnamese tourism with the world tourism market.

According to the representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, free tourism is a unique product, showing the diversity and richness of Ho Chi Minh City tourism when it can build and organize many types of tourism products well, meeting the diverse needs of tourists. Not only free tours, Ho Chi Minh City also has a number of attractive free destinations for tourists such as the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Headquarters building, City Theater, Notre Dame Cathedral, City Post Office, Ngoc Hoang Palace (Phuoc Hai Tu Pagoda), Tan Dinh Church... Some major events such as the HOZO International Music Festival, Storytelling River Show... are also organized for free, creating highlights to attract tourists.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/du-lich-mien-phi-o-tphcm-post1668084.tpo