The six-millionth foreign visitor is welcomed by Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, on December 15, 2017 (Photo: Tuoi Tre) HCM City (VNA) - Ho Chi MinhCity welcomed the six millionth international visitor to the southern economichub during the year at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on December 15.
The sixth international guest is MitchenerDavid William, who was on flight VN780 by the national flag carrier VietnamAirlines from Austria to HCM City.
Speaking at the ceremony, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, head of the HCM City TourismDepartment, affirmed that the event marked a new step and the successful startof the city in developing its tourism, with the growth of more than 1 millioninternational visitors in 2017 compared to last year in 2016.
Vu suggested that in 2018, the departmentand other municipal agencies should continue to maintain and improve thequality of tourism promotional events, such as Nguyen Hue Flower Street 2018,Ao Dai Festival and HCM City Tourism Festival, along with concentrating oncompleting overall planning on tourism development, facilitating implementationof the Law on Tourism 2017 and promoting waterway travel.
The leader of HCM City's tourism sector saidthat in 2018, the city strives to welcome from 7.5 million to 8 millioninternational tourists and an estimated of 29 million domestic visitors.
In 2017, international arrivals to the city areestimated at 6.39 million arrivals, an increase of 22.8 percent from 2016,reaching 110 percent of the set plan. Total tourism revenue is approximately at116 trillion VND, up 12.6 percent over the same period last year and meeting theset plan./.
VNA
