The 2nd Ho Chi Minh City Hot Air Balloon Festival was held in conjunction with the Ho Do International Music Festival at Ba Son Bridge Park (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) - Photo: TTD
Faced with a great opportunity, experts believe that local cooperation and the creation of unique tourism products are necessary to transform Ho Chi Minh City into a leading destination in Asia, boosting growth across the entire industry and the overall economy .
Opening up new avenues for development.
On June 23, in an interview with Tuoi Tre newspaper , Ms. Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, Deputy General Director of Vietravel , assessed that Ho Chi Minh City is facing the opportunity to open up a new space for tourism development, no longer limited by administrative boundaries. Instead, it will be a multi-resource interconnected region encompassing urban areas, industry, the sea, forests, and traditional culture.
"With a short travel radius, an increasingly完善 infrastructure system, and a high population density, Ho Chi Minh City after the merger has the full potential to become the strongest tourism transit hub in the country," Ms. Hoang assessed.
Ms. Hoang analyzed: "Instead of single-destination tours, Ho Chi Minh City tourism can now be designed as multi-point experience combos over 2-4 days, increasing its attractiveness to both domestic and international tourists, especially business travelers, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourists, short-stay international visitors, or developing new product models."
Specifically, this includes short-term health and wellness tourism near urban areas for young business groups, or inter-regional routes that make the most of infrastructure such as highways to save time and enhance the experience."
Meanwhile, Mr. Tu Quy Thanh, director of Lien Bang Tourism Company, said that with the merger, Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry will be revitalized, with local products and services connecting to each other to expand potential, especially with convenient transportation, ease of travel to destinations, and logistics... attracting tourists.
Strategic tourism triangle
According to Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, the merger helps Ho Chi Minh City become a regional tourism megacity, harmoniously combining smart city, creative industry, beach and island resorts, and community-based ecotourism.
Mr. Hoa observed: "Diversifying products and expanding experiential spaces helps extend the length of stay, increase tourist spending, and reduce connectivity costs thanks to inter-regional infrastructure such as expressways, metro, ports, and Long Thanh International Airport."
Furthermore, Ho Chi Minh City plays a central role in organizing events, cultural activities, and coordinating smart tourism, while Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau create spaces for developing new experiences for tourists. This helps Ho Chi Minh City not only become more crowded, but also more colorful, attractive, and memorable for tourists."
Dr. Duong Duc Minh, deputy director of the Institute for Economic and Tourism Development Research, believes that Ho Chi Minh City is no longer just a transit hub.
The city has the potential to become a leader in integrated tourism trends, offering opportunities to upgrade tourism products and even create tourism products that can shape new lifestyles and consumption trends for the younger generation of global tourists.
"Each province has different potential within the chain. And when this connection is enabled by digital technology, shared data, and smart logistics systems, tourists can travel, consume, and interact seamlessly across regions."
"This distinct symbiotic relationship will help the cluster of three provinces and cities move beyond isolated exploitation and towards a regional tourism development model based on a multi-value chain," Mr. Minh said.
From a state management perspective, Mr. Hoa likened the merger to creating a "strategic tourism triangle," laying the groundwork for repositioning Ho Chi Minh City as a regional tourism megacity.
In this model, Ho Chi Minh City will play the role of a cultural, historical, creative industry, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) center and a smart city; Binh Duong will leverage its advantages as a high-tech industrial zone, logistics, and handicraft tourism; and Ba Ria - Vung Tau will become the leading center for international beach, eco-tourism, and spiritual tourism, golf, and casinos.
This is the convergence of three complementary tourism hubs, forming a closely linked ecosystem in terms of space, products, infrastructure, and markets.
Regarding the linkage direction, Mr. Hoa listed the key product groups that the Department of Tourism is currently renewing. "These are inter-regional tours connecting urban and industrial areas, linking Ho Chi Minh City with factory tours, creative cities, and traditional craft villages in Binh Duong."
Secondly, there are city and island tours, combining Ho Chi Minh City - Ho Tram - Long Hai - Con Dao into seamless and convenient resort packages for international tourists.
And thirdly, there are eco-community tours, expanding from Can Gio to Long Son, OCOP craft villages and inter-provincial mangrove forest areas. In addition, the industry is developing marine and urban MICE products, international cruise tourism, and a 3D/360 map of the entire region for effective destination management."
Regarding concerns about the uneven exploitation of tourism resources among the three localities when linked together, Mr. Hoa said there is no need to worry because each locality has its own strengths. For example, Ho Chi Minh City is leading the country in terms of tourist numbers, infrastructure, and tourism management capacity; while Ba Ria - Vung Tau has great resort potential but limited supporting services; and Binh Duong is mainly focused on industry and commerce.
Source: Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism - Data: THAO THUONG - Graphics: TAN DAT
Positioning tourism products with unique characteristics.
According to Dr. Duong Duc Minh, compared to localities like Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, or Hue – which have advantages in natural landscapes or unique heritage – Ho Chi Minh City has not yet truly positioned itself with tourism products that possess a distinct identity and depth of experience.
Mr. Minh cited: "What Ho Chi Minh City lacks is not resources, but the ability to structure and present those resources in the form of products that can create a lasting impression. Unique tourism products that can be developed include open cultural spaces within the city – where residents and tourists can participate in creating experiential content such as art, cuisine, and vibrant history."
Tour programs that follow the flow of time and memories of Saigon – through the waterways, old markets, and historical houses – combined with interactive technology and artificial intelligence will create journeys unlike anywhere else.
At the same time, connecting groups of artists, researchers, businesses, and the community in the product design process will help the city possess unique, non-mass-produced experiences with high symbolic value."
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, the city expects a breakthrough in tourist growth, especially from the international market and high-spending segments such as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions), beach and island resorts, and cruise ship passengers.
Looking ahead, Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa stated that the strategic action plan for Ho Chi Minh City will focus on restructuring regional tourism products into spatial clusters, adjusting targets for 2025 and the 2025-2030 period; developing specific regional policies, and building a regional brand and communication strategy.
"The 2025 target is expected to be adjusted upwards to approximately 30-40% international tourists and 15-20% domestic tourists. Revenue from marine, industrial, and cruise tourism products will double. The new Ho Chi Minh City will focus on developing high value-added products, anticipating trends in green, creative, and digital tourism," Mr. Hoa informed.
Applying digital technology to tourism development.
According to Mr. Duong Duc Minh, in the context of global tourism transforming towards digitalization, personalization, and globalization, Ho Chi Minh City has the opportunity to become a destination that is not only attractive in terms of experiences but also smart in activating and guiding the flow of finance according to tourist demand.
"Instead of relying on passive spending, the city needs to shape a tourism service ecosystem based on a model that personalizes needs, optimizes experiences, and stimulates emotionally driven spending behavior."
Financial flows are no longer channeled through traditional methods such as booking package tours or buying tickets to attractions.
Digital technology, especially big data, artificial intelligence, and smart payments, will reveal a map of individual traveler needs, allowing service providers to design products based on spending context rather than general market rates.
"If we can leverage this sophisticated financial flow, Ho Chi Minh City will not only increase tourism revenue but also transform itself into a truly sustainable experience-based economy," Mr. Minh analyzed.
We need unique tourism products that reflect the essence of Saigon.
According to Ms. Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, to create a strong tourism region, it is necessary to link the three provinces and cities along three main axes - namely, policy, infrastructure, and products.
Ms. Hoang pointed out that policy linkage involves establishing regional coordination mechanisms, removing inter-provincial administrative barriers, and synchronizing promotion strategies and common market orientations. Infrastructure linkage, on the other hand, aims to accelerate key transportation routes, connecting airports, seaports, metro lines, and expressways to form a comprehensive tourism transit network.
The product linkage involves building inter-provincial tours and packages based on the strengths of each province, coordinating regional events, and developing a common ecosystem of products and services.
Compared to Da Nang with its fireworks festivals and the upcoming light festival, or tourism events in Hue and Nha Trang, according to Ms. Hoang, Ho Chi Minh City's tourism needs a product ecosystem that reflects urban and inter-regional identity, rather than being limited to festivals held in the city on April 30th or May 1st.
"The tourism product will bear the distinctive mark of Saigon, redesigning the city tour to focus on cultural depth, art, street food, and Saigon's nightlife, instead of just visiting famous landmarks. The product will offer multi-destination experiences with diverse terrains, combining urban, coastal, and forest environments...", Ms. Hoang expressed.
Bai Sau Beach is the "heart" of Vung Tau tourism and will also be a high-quality tourism center of the new Ho Chi Minh City as public and private investment projects are being implemented extensively here - Photo: DONG HA
Vung Tau - Con Dao to become a high-class coastal tourism axis.
According to many experts, Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry has the greatest opportunity for restructuring after its merger with Ba Ria - Vung Tau - a famous tourist region.
This opportunity is entirely possible once the transportation system connecting Ho Chi Minh City or the Mekong Delta provinces to Ba Ria - Vung Tau is completed, such as the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway and the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway. Especially when Long Thanh Airport comes into operation, along with the construction of the Ho Tram - Long Thanh Expressway, the opportunity will become even brighter and clearer. This is because the traffic congestion on National Highway 51 will be resolved.
"The new Ho Chi Minh City is not only a megacity and the leading economic center of Vietnam, but it also has great tourism potential with diverse landscapes; many unique architectural, cultural, historical works and festivals. With such a position, the new Ho Chi Minh City will certainly attract large-scale, outstanding tourism projects," said a tourism entrepreneur.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre newspaper, Mr. Vu Hong Thuan, acting director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, said that the merger of Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Duong into Ho Chi Minh City not only opens up a space for remarkable economic development, especially for the tourism industry, but also presents a golden opportunity for a comprehensive restructuring of the organizational model, products, and tourism value chain.
According to Mr. Thuan, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, with its centers in Vung Tau, Long Hai, Ho Tram, and Con Dao, will no longer be merely a "weekend destination" but needs to "transform" into a world-class seaside resort center, part of the smart urban-industrial-service chain of the new Ho Chi Minh City. "Transformation here is not just about changing the image, but about changing the way things are done, reorganizing products, services, human resources, and the visitor experience," Mr. Thuan shared.
According to tourism experts and government agencies, Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry needs to shift its branding from "mass tourism" to "high-quality tourism." Simultaneously, it should focus on developing long-stay resort tourism, MICE tourism, health tourism, water sports, nightlife entertainment, and smart tourism.
Mr. Thuan also pointed out the main weaknesses that Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry needs to overcome: inconsistent product quality and a lack of iconic products. Furthermore, there is a lack of a central hub for coordinating and sharing data across the entire industry, hindering policy planning and focused marketing. In addition, there is a shortage of skilled and professionally qualified human resources, especially in serving international tourists and high-end segments.
"In the coming period, under the overall coordination of the new Ho Chi Minh City, the tourism industry aims to develop Vung Tau - Con Dao into a world-class coastal and island tourism axis by 2030, linked with smart cities, offering diverse experiences and being environmentally friendly, to become a leading tourism center in the region and internationally, with a solid position on the global tourism map," Mr. Thuan said.
THAO THUONG - DONG HA
>> Check out Hotels:
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tp-hcm-sieu-do-thi-du-lich-day-tiem-nang-truc-du-lich-bien-dang-cap-202506240907207.htm
![[Photo] Ba Lang An Lighthouse - the "eye of the sea" amidst the "rock museum" of Quang Ngai province.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/05/29/1780038698840_anh-man-hinh-2026-05-29-luc-14-10-42.png)
![[Image] Pleasant weather helps students enter the 10th grade entrance exam with confidence.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/05/29/1780034401612_ngay-1-thi-lop-10-minh-duy-8-5009-jpg.webp)
Comment (0)