China boosts tourism in HCM City

A seminar to promote China’s tourism in Ho Chi Minh City, themed “China-Vietnam Friendship Year, joining hands for tourism development”, was held on August 11. Addressing the function, attended by tourism officials from China’s Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces, Chinese Consul General in HCMC Xu Ming Liang affirmed the significance of the development of tourism cooperation between Vietnam and China.
Increased bilateral ties have contributed to boosting travel between the two countries, he said.
Chinese tourists have accounted for a large number of visitors to Vietnam for years, Liang said, adding that thanks to improved living conditions, more and more Vietnamese people now have a chance to tour China.
The deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Nguyen Manh Cuong, emphasised the importance of the Vietnam-China friendship year 2010, which helps lift bilateral relations to a new height, including cooperation in tourism.
The year is expected to increase understanding between the two tourism sectors and offer chances for tourism enterprises of both countries to meet each other and set up business links.
According to La Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of the HCM City Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, the city welcomed 140,000 Chinese visitors last year and is expected to receive nearly 200,000 tourists from the neighbouring country in 2010.
Khanh added that China now ranks sixth out of 10 leading markets of the city’s tourism sector.
China is also one of the three favourite destinations of the city’s dwellers. It is expected that 60,000 of the city’s residents will visit China this year, Khanh said.