Cu Chi with the tour program "Journey back to the roots" in conjunction with districts 12, Go Vap and Hoc Mon district
Tour "Binh Chanh - untold stories" - a cultural and historical destination closely associated with the rural life of local people
The conference to summarize the program "Each district has a unique tourism product", marking nearly 5 years of the city's efforts to reshape inner-city tourism towards exploiting local identity, diversifying experiences and increasing regional connectivity.
Up to now, more than 60 tours with distinct colors have been built and put into operation. Among them, many products attract a large number of tourists such as: "Memories of Saigon Special Forces", "Go Vap - A Hundred Years of Finding the Past", "District 5 - Memories of Saigon - Cho Lon" ...
Ho Chi Minh City also recorded 366 potential destinations that are being exploited, including natural resources, tangible and intangible cultural heritage and modern works.
Speaking at the conference, Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu - Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism assessed: "The program has opened up a new approach for city tourism, placing cultural identity and depth at the center, instead of relying only on traditional routes".
However, the Deputy Director of the Department also acknowledged that some districts have not yet implemented effectively, the products are still monotonous, lacking connection and depth of exploitation. After the administrative boundary merger, the city has many new units, which means it is necessary to re-establish the tourism development strategy according to the expanded space.
From the perspective of a travel agency, Mr. Tran The Dung, General Director of VietluxTour, suggested that instead of spreading expectations on new products, priority should be given to exploiting products that are effective, have long-term strategies and clear investments to retain tourists.
He cited the fact that the "Saigon Special Forces" tour - which has already been popular - still needs to be constantly renewed, from the story, images to the way the journey is organized.
“We should not pursue new products at all costs. Many existing destinations have not yet been fully exploited. We need to reinvest in storytelling, upgrade experiences and increase connections between wards and communes - especially newly merged units,” Mr. Dung suggested.
From a planning perspective, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao - Head of the Department of Tourism Resource Development Planning (Department of Tourism) assessed that the city needs a long-term strategy, from identifying resources, classifying products to building tourism corridors according to specific routes - areas - themes.
“Only when each locality has its own ‘highlights’ will tourists have a reason to stay longer, return many times and spend more,” Ms. Thao emphasized.
Ms. Thao acknowledged that the spatial transformation has opened up new possibilities for connection, creating conditions for localities to reposition their role on the city’s tourism map. But to do that, each district and county must not only “have products” but also “know how to tell stories”, “know how to connect” and “know how to preserve their own uniqueness”.
Sharing the potentials and achievements in the implementation and development of District 1 tourism products in the past time, Mr. Tran Mai Vy, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture - Science and Information of District 1, said that with the advantage of rich resources and diverse destinations, District 1 has launched many tourism products with its own colors such as the tour "Memories of Saigon Special Forces", "Vivid Saigon", "District 1 Night Colors" etc.
The survey delegation of the City leaders visited the relic site of Nga Ba Giong in the tour program "Hoc Mon - Historical land"
These programs not only create a highlight in the hearts of tourists but are also highly appreciated by experts, typically the tour "Saigon Special Forces - Legendary Basements" won second prize at a national creative tourism competition.
At the conference, businesses also actively provided their perspectives from the practice of organizing and designing tour programs. Mr. Tran Quang Duy, Director of Chim Canh Penguin Travel - pointed out that the unit has been implementing inter-provincial tours with neighboring localities. The most recent is the route combining Ho Chi Minh City with Binh Duong, developing high-tech agricultural tourism.
Visitors can visit modern farming models, directly harvest, enjoy on-site and understand the clean food supply chain. Notably, the journey also cleverly connects green experiences with exploring the modern urban space of Ho Chi Minh City, creating a combined product that is both new and familiar.
From practical implementation, Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu emphasized the importance of "connecting" space - culture - administration between the old Ho Chi Minh City and the newly merged localities, to avoid the situation of fading or duplication of products. For example, Ba Ria - Vung Tau has the strength of sea tourism, if skillfully exploited and connected, it will create a new product axis of regional nature.
All of the above products are the result of a process of social observation, community listening and continuous experimentation by the entire system of government, businesses and people. In a large city like Ho Chi Minh City, tourism that wants to develop sustainably must go in depth - the depth of identity, of story, of local attachment.
In the coming period, Ho Chi Minh City plans to continue upgrading the program towards quality standards, strengthening regional connectivity, developing digital platforms to serve tourists, and investing more in training local human resources so that each tour guide and each destination can "tell stories" professionally and emotionally.
Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/tp-ho-chi-minh-da-co-60-tour-tuyen-mang-mau-sac-rieng-biet-20250616143144263.htm
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