An Impressive Tourism Festival

The sixth Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival took place at 23/9 Cultural Park from April 8-11, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign visitors. The festival was organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in coordination with the municipal Tourism Association in response to the domestic travel stimulus program titled 'Vietnam - Your Destination' launched by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and to attract more visitors to Ho Chi Minh City - an attractive, friendly and safe destination.
The festival gave tourism companies an opportunity to present and offer new products and services as well as to introduce attractive tourist sites. The festival had 187 stalls presenting products and services of 85 tourism companies from 16 provinces/cities throughout the country such as An Giang, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang, Hanoi, Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Dong Thap, Dak Lak, Can Tho, Dong Nai, Thua Thien Hue, Tay Ninh, Kon Tum and Quang Binh. Participants also included schools and vocational training centers, entertainment facilities, travel businesses, hotels and tour organizers. Nguyen Thanh Rum, the director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the head of the festival organizing board, said that this is an annual event aimed at creating opportunities for tourism companies to present and offer their new products and services. The organizing board wishes that the festival will attract more visitors to Ho Chi Minh City and other localities nationwide.
During the sixth Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival, a southern food festival took place with 18 participants and 40 stalls presenting various kinds of food. A tourism fair also took place with many tourist and cultural activities such as a competition between amateur singers, a contest titled "Ho Chi Minh City - My Favorite Tourist City", and traditional games of different areas throughout the country.
The festival introduced many reputable brands and tourist sites in Ho Chi Minh City. Companies such as Viettourist, Vietravel, Saigontourist and Fiditour offered new, attractive tours in Vietnam and to other countries and presented many sales promotion programs that will offer tourists a discount in summer 2010.
In 2010, the tourism sector of Ho Chi Minh City expects that the number of domestic visitors to the city will grow about 15 percent compared with 2009. The sixth Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival is believed to attract more domestic tourists to the city.