HCM City's Bùi Biện Walking Street is a popular tourist destination. The city is prioritising visitor experience, higher-value markets and innovative tourism products. — Photos vietnamtourism.gov.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City is reshaping its tourism strategy by prioritising visitor experience, higher-value markets and innovative tourism products, helping the sector maintain strong growth despite global headwinds.

According to Phạm Huy Bình, director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, the sector has shifted from simply responding to market demand to actively creating it, placing visitor experience, service quality and destination competitiveness at the centre of its development strategy.

A key priority is integrating tourism with the urban economy, the night-time economy, cultural industries and the experience economy, while moving beyond hosting events to developing an event economy that generates wider benefits across multiple service sectors.

The sector has also helped stimulate growth in trade, transport, accommodation, food services and other related industries.

Despite continuing global and regional uncertainties, including geopolitical tensions, volatile fuel prices, rising air transport costs and increasingly fierce competition among regional destinations, HCM City's tourism industry maintained solid momentum, reinforcing its position as Việt Nam's leading tourism hub.

Following the expansion of the city's administrative boundaries under National Assembly Resolution No. 202/2025/QH15, the tourism sector has moved quickly to capitalise on newly acquired marine, eco-tourism, community-based and resort tourism resources.

At the same time, the city has strengthened regional cooperation, accelerated digital transformation and developed distinctive tourism products, gradually building a diversified, modern and competitive tourism ecosystem.

Official figures show that HCM City welcomed 6.4 million international visitors and 27.3 million domestic travellers during the first six months of the year.

Tourism revenue reached VNĐ214 trillion (US$8.1 billion), fulfilling 58.1 per cent of the annual international arrivals target, 54.6 per cent of the domestic visitor target and 64.8 per cent of the year's tourism revenue goal.

The results reflect the effectiveness of the city's strategy to improve visitor quality, increase spending and encourage longer stays.

The city's tourism authorities have also organised a wide range of large-scale promotional campaigns linked to major public holidays, while maintaining strong momentum for the 2026 summer tourism season.

Among the highlights was the 22nd HCM City Tourism Festival, themed "A Vibrant Summer", which featured nearly 1,000 discounted travel products, attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors and generated more than VNĐ120 billion in direct sales.

The 12th HCM City Áo Dài Festival also continued to strengthen its reputation as one of the city's signature cultural and tourism events, promoting HCM City's image as a dynamic, modern destination with a rich cultural identity.

Rather than focusing solely on visitor numbers and price discounts, tourism stimulus programmes introduced since the beginning of 2026 have been implemented in a more systematic, coordinated and professional manner.

These initiatives have helped boost domestic travel demand, support business recovery and gradually enhance the city's competitiveness as a tourism destination.

Public spaces such as pedestrian streets, parks, riverfront areas, flower streets and community venues are also being used more effectively, gradually shaping an experience-oriented urban model that improves residents' quality of life while enhancing the city's appeal to visitors.

From an industry perspective, Vũ Ngọc Lâm, Country Director for Việt Nam at Agoda, said data from the digital travel platform shows that Asian travellers are increasingly designing their trips around experiences, from visiting theme parks and exploring cities to immersing themselves in nature.

Rather than simply choosing suitable accommodation, travellers are placing greater emphasis on creating memorable experiences, presenting significant opportunities for destinations such as HCM City.

HCM City is positioned as the country's leading destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.

Building strategic tourism products

Tourism businesses in HCM City said the expansion of the city's administrative boundaries has enabled the sector to unlock new tourism potential and gradually develop a multi-centre tourism model that combines urban, coastal, resort, eco-tourism, community-based tourism and the night-time economy.

This broader development space has contributed to positive results across the industry, including the launch of new tourism products and coordinated efforts in promotion, regional cooperation and digital transformation.

International arrivals and tourism revenue have continued to grow strongly.

Meanwhile, MICE tourism has further strengthened HCM City's position as the country's leading destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.

A notable achievement was the successful hosting of a MICE delegation of nearly 900 visitors from Indonesia, helping to raise the city's international profile while attracting high-spending travellers.

Residents and visitors alike have also recognised the rapid development of the city's night-time economy.

Mỹ Trang, an office worker in Sài Gòn Ward, said the city's evening tourism offerings continue to attract both locals and visitors.

She noted that HCM City has further enhanced its reputation as a culinary destination with the launch of more than 20 themed food tourism programmes, showcasing local cuisine and enriching visitor experiences.

Sharing a similar view, Mai Phương, a visitor from Hà Nội, said that special tourism products introduced around War Invalids and Martyrs' Day on July 27 had made a strong impression on travellers interested in history and cultural heritage.

Among the standout products are the "Sài Gòn – Colours of the Night" and "Moonlight over the Resistance Base" tours.

The commercial launch of the "HCM City from Above" helicopter sightseeing service has also marked a new step forward for the city's premium tourism segment while offering visitors a unique perspective of the metropolis.

Community-based tourism has recently been introduced in Long Sơn Commune, combining cultural preservation with livelihood development for local residents while diversifying the city's tourism offerings.

At the same time, artistic performances, night-time river cruises, pedestrian streets and evening cultural spaces continue to be refreshed, bringing new experiences for residents and visitors while giving the city's tourism sector a fresh identity in pursuit of double-digit growth.

The Department of Tourism has also identified waterway tourism as one of the city's strategic products under its expanded development plan.

Authorities have begun surveying infrastructure, planning the development of ports and passenger terminals, and working with international cruise operators to expand the cruise tourism market and strengthen connections between urban, coastal and resort tourism in the years ahead. — VNS