HCMC targets high-spending tourists to revive post-pandemic tourism

By Huynh Nhi May 6, 2022 | 05:23 pm PT

Tourists take a helicopter tour to explore HCMC from above, April 29, 2022. Photo by Duc Toan

Tourism authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern metropolis, are set to launch luxury travel experiences as it seeks to revive the travel industry following the pandemic.

"The tourism industry wants to increase high-end and high-quality services in order to woo big spenders that would generate high and sustainable revenue flows," Le Truong Hien Hoa, deputy director of the municipal Department of Tourism, told a meeting Thursday.

During the Reunification Day holiday last week, HCMC debuted a helicopter tour that allows visitors to view the metropolis from above at a price of VND4.08 million ($177) per person for a 40-minute journey.

The helicopter tour served 200 customers during the four-day weekend holiday, according to the service provider TST Tourist.

It also plans to launch a cruise tour along the Saigon River that would target the middle and high-end tourist segment with prices of VND5-10 million for a three-hour trip.

During the four-day holiday break last week, HCMC welcomed 186,000 domestic tourists, up 100 percent against the same period last year, with room occupancy rates reaching around 70 percent.

HCMC hopes to receive 25 million domestic and 3.5 million foreign tourists this year.

Its tourism sector has a revenue target of VND97.7 trillion.