HCM City welcomes seven million foreign visitors in 2018

Ho Chi Minh City welcomed the seven millionth international visitor to the southern economic hub this year, at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, on December 10.

Foreign tourists at Ho Chi Minh City (Source: VNA)
Foreign tourists at Ho Chi Minh City (Source: VNA)

The seven millionth international guest was Tissot Jean Claude, who was on flight VN10 by the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, from Paris to HCM City.

Speaking at the ceremony Le Thanh Liem, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, highlighted the municipal tourism sector’s annual growth which has stood at roughly 15% in recent years.

HCM City is accelerating the implementation of its tourism development strategy, focusing on sustainable and green tourism in connection with environmental protection, and technological applications for tourism development.

The city set a target to expand tourism growth by between 15-20% and serve approximately 8-8.5 million foreign holidaymakers in 2019, he added.

Jointly organised by the municipal Department of Tourism and Vietnam Airlines, the ceremony is one of the activities to celebrate the 320th anniversary of the foundation of Ho Chi Minh City.

On the occasion, the municipal Department of Tourism launched a tourism promotion programme and introduced eight special city tours to be held in the future.

To attract more tourists to the city, the local tourism sector has paid attention to improving the quality of human resources in the field, enhancing tourism promotion activities, promoting technology application in tourism management and developing new products.