Leaders of HCM City Department of Tourism and the Department of Public Security sign a coordination agreement on tourism-related security and order for the 2021-2025 period at a conference on Thursday. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Tourism and the Department of Public Security will work together to crack down on crimes against tourists and guarantee safety and social order.

Major General Lê Hồng Nam, director of city’s Department of Public Security, said the public security and tourism sectors periodically exchanged information about problems related to crimes against tourists in the 2016-2020 period.

Travel firms were given guidance about crime prevention as well as travellers' offences, Nam said at a conference held in HCM City on January 7.

Police handled 940 robberies, the main crime against tourists, with 297 suspects arrested over the past five years, according to the Department of Public Security.

The number of non-violent property crimes against tourists is usually higher than reported as tourists are less likely to report crimes or to testify against suspects, police said.

Colonel Phạm Ngọc Tiến, head of the Immigration Office, said that growth in tourism had led to increased incidences of crimes related to international travellers.

Despite a drop of 90 per cent in the number of foreign tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year the number of foreigners who were late in extending their visa or who were illegal immigrants increased in the city, Tiến said.

Last year, police found nearly 200 cases of illegal immigration in the city, he said.

More than 6,000 foreigners were found violating Vietnamese law when travelling the country over the past five years, he added.

At the conference, leaders of the departments signed a coordination agreement on tourism-related security and order for the 2021-2025 period.

Nguyễn Thị Ánh Hoa, director of the Department of Tourism, said the department, in coordination with police and tourist security forces, would strengthen inspections to protect tourists. —VNS