Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Tourism in Ho Chi Minh City is not only expanding in scale but also shifting strongly toward improving visitor experience, strengthening connectivity and enhancing its spillover effects.
Boosting local tours
Sales of tours, services and tourism products at the 22nd Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival 2026, held in early this month by the municipal Department of Tourism and the city’s Tourism Association, generated around 120 billion VND in revenue.
The event showcased about 1,000 distinctive tourism products from across the country, offered with flexible discounts, promotions and giveaways. Designed as an open experiential space, the festival blended trade promotion with cultural, entertainment and community engagement activities, enabling visitors to access quality travel programmes at reasonable prices while helping businesses promote and distribute their offerings.
Pham Huy Binh, Director of the municipal Department of Tourism, said the festival not only achieved strong results in scale but also created clear market stimulus. Partnerships formed at the event are expected to evolve into concrete cooperation programmes, while products introduced will continue to be refined for the market. The inspiration generated is also expected to shape new travel journeys in the near future.
Travel firms have simultaneously rolled out new products ahead of the April holiday season. Notably, helicopter sightseeing tours over Ho Chi Minh City departing from Vung Tau offer four options ranging from 15 to 60 minutes, catering to diverse budgets and preferences. The product is expected to become a signature experience attracting more visitors.
Meanwhile, Cu Chi Tunnels are promoting a range of new offerings, including the night tour themed “Moonlight over the War Zone,” a mini zoo, sports shooting activities, and Khmer cultural experiences during the April 30–May 1 holiday.
Other distinctive tours include “Binh Tay Market – Touching the Past,” “Tan Dinh Imprints,” “Saigon Greets the Morning,” “Saigon by Night,” and “Xuan Hoa – Old Charm in a New Urban Area.” In culinary tourism, the city has launched a series of 15 themed programmes connecting travel with local flavours across different districts.
According to Chairwoman of Saigontourist Group Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, as the city expands its tourism space and diversifies products linked to nature, ecology and community-based experiences, businesses are conducting field surveys in various localities. These efforts aim to assess tourism resources, infrastructure and development potential to better serve visitors.
Data from Agoda also show that travellers are increasingly prioritising sustainable options that benefit the environment and local communities, especially in Asia and among Vietnamese tourists.
Restructuring products amid rising costs
Since early March, domestic fuel prices have continued to rise due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East disrupting global energy supply chains. This has directly impacted the tourism sector, where transport costs account for a large share of tour prices, especially for air and cruise travel.
Rather than adjusting base fares, many airlines and transport service providers have introduced fuel surcharges to offset rising input costs. This creates significant pressure on travel companies to maintain competitive pricing while ensuring service quality.
In response, tourism firms in Ho Chi Minh City are adopting flexible strategies. Instead of across-the-board discounts, businesses are restructuring products by optimising services, itineraries and bundled experiences to create differentiated value.
Many companies are separating fuel surcharges, particularly for outbound tours, to improve pricing transparency, while prioritising early flight bookings to mitigate cost fluctuations. There is also a shift toward domestic road tours and nearby destinations, combined with diverse experiences such as free walking tours, cycling and metro-based travel.
A representative example is Vietravel, which is striving to stabilise service costs while maintaining quality. The company separates transportation costs, adjusted according to airlines and transport partners, while keeping land service costs such as hotels, meals, guides and experiences stable. This approach helps protect customer benefits and ensure consistent service standards.
Tran Doan The Duy, CEO of Vietravel, said the company clearly communicates transport cost adjustments to customers instead of bundling them into overall tour prices. In the context of rising global operating costs, reasonable adjustments are made without compromising service quality, ensuring safe, fulfilling and worthwhile journeys.
To maintain a healthy, safe and professional tourism environment, the city has stepped up inspections of tourism establishments, ensuring compliance with regulations and transparent pricing. Authorities are closely monitoring fuel and service prices to prevent unreasonable hikes or customer exploitation during the upcoming April 30–May 1 holiday.
The sector’s long-term strategy, officials say, is to compete through unique, high-value experiences that encourage repeat visits, laying a sustainable foundation for future growth./.
