Foreign tourists experience local cuisine at Hồ Thị Kỷ Food Street in HCM City. —VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Tourism has launched a culinary tourism campaign, featuring 20 new food tours to promote the “foodie” experience and the city’s culinary tourism.

The food tours designed by travel firms are based on the city’s diverse system of food service establishments, shopping facilities and tourist attractions after its administrative merger with Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu and Bình Dương provinces.

Bùi Thị Ngọc Hiếu, deputy director of the department, said that the campaign is not only a journey of flavour discovery but also tells the story of the culture, history and people.

This is a step to realise the strategy of developing culinary tourism products in the city until 2030 and the target of welcoming 10 million international visitors this year, Hiếu said.

The city holds huge potential for tourism following the merge with 681 tourism resources ranging from architectural heritages, modern urban spaces and traditional markets to river and island areas, she said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

The city is focused on efforts to build new tourism products such as waterway tourism, cultural and historical tourism, community tourism, and culinary tourism.

The tours are flexible in duration from half a day to three days, featuring bustling markets, vibrant night food streets, orchard gardens, rivers and islands.

A Vespa food tour, a cacao garden and chocolate making tour and a Cooking with Chefs programme in the city downtown are some of the food tour highlights. — VNS