HCM City opens 17th tourism festival hinh anh 1The opening ceremony of the 17th HCM City Tourism Festival on December 4 (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – The 17th Tourism Festival of Ho Chi Minh City kicked off on December 4, expected to help warm up the travel sector in this southern economic hub and Vietnam as a whole.

The event through December 25, organised by the Tourism Department and the Tourism Association of the city, takes place both in person and virtually on the festival’s website (https://ngayhoidulich.visithcmc.vn), the website on local tourism (www.visithcmc.vn), the Shopee e-commerce platform, and the online travel agent Traveloka.

It attracts the participation of nearly 40 provinces and cities nationwide and 80 businesses running tourism establishments, hotels, places of interest, and entertainment centres, with hundreds of tourism products and services offered.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the municipal Tourism Department, said the this is a demonstration of authorities and enterprises’ resolve to revive the tourism industry of the city, as well as the whole country, in a time all economic, cultural, and social activities have to flexibly adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To the city, the event is also meant to help local enterprises get ready for fully resuming tourism activities in 2022 once the Government permits, she noted.

Speaking via videoconference, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said even in the most trying times of the pandemic, local authorities and businesses still paid attention to “green zones” to create tourism products and organise tours, illustrating the strong vitality of the sector which, in turn, supports economic development.

He added that the ministry expects after this festival, technological and digital platforms will be applied further so as to introduce safe destinations to travellers and facilitate the tourism market./.
VNA