Ho Chi Minh City Tourism: Opening up many new opportunities

(Chinhphu.vn) - The change of administrative boundaries has opened up opportunities to develop new tourism routes, helping the Ho Chi Minh City tourism industry quickly reposition its market and brand. At the same time, it builds products suitable for the expanded urban space, increases regional connectivity and gradually repositions the image of the City as a dynamic and modern tourism center of the southern region.

Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry is just perfecting its typical product groups, organized along the axis of linked experiences - Photo: VGP/Le Anh

Tourism growth is positive

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, in the first 6 months of 2025, the city's tourism continued to grow impressively. Specifically, the city welcomed over 3.85 million international visitors, an increase of 44% over the same period in 2024. Domestic tourists reached over 18.3 million, an increase of 7% over the same period. Total revenue from tourism in the area reached nearly 118,000 billion VND, an increase of 27.3% over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, in the first 6 months of 2025, Binh Duong's tourism industry (old) continued to maintain double-digit growth momentum. In the first quarter of 2025, the province's tourism industry served about 1.1 million visitors, an increase of 10% over the same period last year. In the second quarter of 2025, the province's tourism industry continued to maintain its growth momentum, contributing to the impressive growth of the province's trade and services. Accordingly, in the first 6 months, the total retail sales of goods and service revenue is estimated at VND 195,634 billion, an increase of 18%.

The tourism industry of Ba Ria - Vung Tau (old) has made great strides, affirming its position as an attractive destination in the Southeast region. In the first 6 months of 2025, the tourism sector continued to grow with accommodation service revenue increasing by 22.68% over the same period last year. The total number of guests staying reached more than 3 million, including nearly 165,000 international visitors.

Infrastructure is increasingly improved

In the context of Ho Chi Minh City officially operating a two-level government when merging Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau from July 1, the city's tourism industry and the tourism-travel business community are proactively repositioning products, expanding geographical corridors to promote regional connectivity and sustainable development.

Commenting on the new opportunities and potentials when the administrative boundaries of Ho Chi Minh City are expanded, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa said that, up to now, the City is not only a prominent destination for urban, MICE, cultural-culinary tourism, but also possesses the potential to develop sea tourism, high-class resorts, spiritual tourism (in the old Ba Ria - Vung Tau area), as well as industrial tourism, craft villages, and ecology (old Binh Duong area).

These advantages are contributing to enriching the city's tourism products, opening up opportunities to build linked tours with unique experiences in the Southeast region.

In the new context, the tourism industry of Ho Chi Minh City has identified the top priority tasks as perfecting the organizational structure, integrating data systems, and creating convenience for businesses and tourists. At the same time, researching and developing new tourism products, aiming to reposition the city's tourism brand.

Many experts say that Ho Chi Minh City currently has advantages in expanding destinations as well as favorable infrastructure conditions. When the first phase of Long Thanh International Airport comes into operation, the travel time between Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau (old) and Binh Duong (old) will be shortened, creating favorable conditions for international tourists to go directly to coastal resorts without having to go through the city center. Strategic expressways such as Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay, Ben Luc-Long Thanh... will create conditions for the tourism and travel business community to expand tours and build new products to serve domestic and foreign tourists.

From a business perspective, Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour Travel Joint Stock Company, said that the company has adjusted its business plan since the beginning of the third quarter of 2025 to exploit new markets. In the coming time, Vietluxtour will launch a new set of Vietnam tourism products, both unique in terms of routes and reflecting cultural and historical imprints in the new era of development.

Ho Chi Minh City is always one of the top choices for tourists when coming to Vietnam - Photo: VGP/Le Anh

Develop distinctive product groups

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the total number of international tourists to Vietnam in the first 6 months of 2025 reached nearly 10.7 million, an increase of 20.7% over the same period in 2024.

With its position as the largest tourist center in the country, in addition to the unique products and tours that are regularly deployed, currently, the Ho Chi Minh City tourism industry is perfecting groups of typical products, organized according to the axis of linked experiences.

Notable is the journey "From the city along the river to the sea", connecting central urban spaces, riverside ecological areas and coastal resorts in a continuous route; or the "Sea Culture" chain, repositioning coastal destinations associated with beliefs, heritage and ecology. Specialized products such as cuisine, night tourism, and craft villages are also being gradually developed to personalize the experience.

In addition, major events have also been upgraded and repositioned, such as the Ho Chi Minh City International Travel Expo (ITE HCMC) which continues to be a focal point connecting international and regional markets. Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Week has been expanded to the entire region, associated with new products and new destinations.

In addition, prominent tourist destinations such as Long Hai beach, Ho Tram or Binh Chau hot spring open up many opportunities to develop eco-tourism, community tourism or Con Dao special zone is now gradually becoming an attractive tourist "paradise" for visitors... meanwhile, Cai Mep - Thi Vai port cluster is a destination attracting tens of thousands of international tourists to explore the Southeast region.

Many experts say that the seaport system, logistics, inland waterways and major rivers such as the Saigon River are opening up space for river tourism development. At the same time, with nearly 93,000 rooms, from luxury hotels to homestays, eco-resorts, along with a system of shopping centers, international hospitals, golf courses, entertainment areas... Ho Chi Minh City is fully capable of welcoming both large-scale domestic guests and high-class international guests.

Ms. Tran Mong Tuyen, Senior Project Manager of Informa Markets Vietnam Company, commented: One of the current barriers of Ho Chi Minh City is the failure to fully exploit the potential of MICE tourism to promote investment and tourism. Ho Chi Minh City is still "thirsty" for large-scale convention and exhibition centers that can welcome thousands of attendees at the same time with leading-edge equipment and technology. "This is an unfortunate bottleneck, because MICE is not just a simple event; it is a strategic lever, capable of attracting capital, knowledge and high-end tourists, thereby promoting sustainable economic growth," Ms. Tuyen shared.

To truly reach new heights, according to a representative of Informa Markets Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City needs to make bold breakthroughs in planning and investing in the MICE development roadmap, and be more open in cooperating with professional international organizers.

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism believes that the city is facing a golden opportunity to renew the tourism industry, because of its diverse resources, large market, and complete infrastructure.

Within the new geographical area, Ho Chi Minh City has 681 resources that can become tourist destinations. These are from urban areas, craft villages, industries, riverside areas to islands, architectural heritage systems, modern museums, traditional markets, street food, creative spaces and festivals, which are places to strongly develop MICE tours, city tours, cultural tourism and night tourism products.

Le Anh

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/du-lich-tphcm-mo-ra-nhieu-co-hoi-moi-102250711215919966.htm