Suoi Tien Theme Park in HCM City packed with visitors during the National Day holidays. (Photo: VNA)HCM City – Ho Chi Minh City received hundreds of thousands of
visitors during the National Day holidays, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.
Domestic
tourism continued to lead the sector’s revival, with HCM City remaining the top
destination for local travellers in 2022, a study of travel trends this summer
by online digital travel platform Agoda found.
It was
followed by Da Nang, Hanoi, Vung Tau, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Ha Long, Hoi
An, and Phan Thiet.
Beach
destinations dominated the list as the country sweltered through a heatwave.
In HCM City,
people visited the usual tourist attractions and amusement parks, with the
numbers estimated at 920,000 domestic and 32,484 international guests.
Nguyen Thi
Anh Hoa, Director of the Department of Tourism, said visitors’ top activities
include sightseeing, mostly of historic sites and museums, and shopping.
New tourism
offerings are an attraction, she said.
To revive
tourism following the end of COVID, the department has been coordinating with
travel firms to develop intra-city and river-based tours.
It is
offering incentives to boost MICE tourism (meeting, incentive, convention,
exhibition), and ongoing tourism stimulus programmes will continue for the rest
of the year.
More than 70%
of travel businesses have fully resumed operations and around 20 others have
applied for a new licence.
The average
occupancy rate at three-, four- and five-star hotels in the city was 75% during
the holidays.
Park Hyatt
Saigon reported an 80-85% rate while Sheraton Saigon reported 85-90%.
A Tourism
Cuisine Culture Festival held in Cu Chi district from September 1 to 4
attracted more than 25,000 visitors.
The festival
is an opportunity to promote the cultural identity, traditional values, and
tourist attractions of Cu Chi district to visitors and help fulfil its tourism
potential.
The district’s
attractions include Ben Duoc Tunnel, Ben Duoc Memorial Temple, a memorial house
for Vietnamese Heroic Mother Nguyen Thi Ranh, a high-tech agricultural zone,
and fruit gardens in Trung An commune.
Shopping
malls and supermarkets like Emart Go Vap, MM Mega Market, Vincom, GigaMall, and
Aeon received large numbers of shoppers estimated at 15-50% more than on normal
days.
Tan Son Nhat
International Airport handled a total of 204,000 passengers during the
holidays.
The airport
coordinated with carriers and related agencies and deployed over 300 volunteers
to regulate traffic and ensure safety and security on the streets.
More than
1,100 buses with over 77,000 passengers plied between the airport and Eastern
Coach Station in Binh Thanh district during the holidays.
Popular
amusement sites and tourist attractions such as Suoi Tien Theme Park, the zoo,
Dam Sen Cultural Park, Ao Dai Museum, and the Cu Chi [guerrilla warfare]
Tunnels saw an influx of visitors.
Bui Thi To
Trinh, Deputy General director of the Suoi Tiên Theme Park, said at least
40,000 visitors came during the holidays.
The theme
park has invested in upgrades to infrastructure, planted more trees and launched
a farm which offers hands-on experience in farming and high-tech planting
technologies, she added.
Around
170,000 people visited the Cu Chi Tunnels while 25,000 checked out the zoo.
The city has
dozens of tourism programmes in place and will add before the end of the year.
Thanks to
these, in the year-to-date more than 16.77 million domestic tourists visited
the city, accounting for 84% of the year’s target.
Tourism
revenues in the period are estimated at 74.5 trillion VND (3.3 billion USD) or
93% of the target./.
