HCMC promotes tourism on CNN to reach global audience

This is the first time the city has been featured on the popular cable news network.

The Notre Dame Cathedral in HCMC's District 1 is under innovation, April 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The ads showcasing the city's iconic tourism sites, traditional festivals and diverse cuisine will be broadcast three times a day in the television channel's Asia-Pacific and North American regions. The ad campaign will run until the end of this month.

City authorities hope that the promotion on CNN will help the city to attract more travelers from key tourism markets around the world.

After Vietnam reopened to international tourism on March 15, HCMC recorded a slower recovery in international tourist arrivals than its regional neighbors, the Department of Tourism said.

In the first 10 months of this year HCMC received 2.65 million foreign arrivals, or 76% of its target for the year. The southern metropolis is hoping to attract 3.5 million foreign visitors this year.

HCMC ranked second in a list of 10 most searched travel destinations by Americans this year after London, according to Google Flights data.

Globally, the city was one of the 15 most searched by travelers for the year-end holiday season, according to hotel booking data from online travel agency Booking.com, based on an analysis of check-in dates between December 24 to January 2.

CNN has also been used as a promotion channel for Hanoi. The capital city inked a $2 million deal with the network to run commercials featuring some of its "wonders" between 2017-2018, before paying another $4 million to extend the promotion until 2024.