The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism and the branch of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) signed a co-cooperation agreement on the joint development a smartphone tourism app.
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The app, which is expected to become operational this June, can be operated on both Android and iOS in Vietnamese and English. The app has been developed in Hanoi, Da Lat and Phu Quoc.
Ho Chi Minh City launched a new bilingual magazine in Vietnamese and English for tourists. Check-in Saigon magazine provides tourists with culture, people and food of the city. It also includes the opinions of travellers who came to the city. The city has also put into operation two information and support centres for tourists on Bach Dang Wharf and 23/9 Park.
In 2017, Ho Chi Minh City welcomed more than 6.39 million international tourists, an increase of 22.8% from 2016, reaching 110% of the set plan. Total tourism revenue is approximately at VND116 trillion, up 12.6% over the same period last year and meeting the set plan, according to Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism.
The leader of Ho Chi Minh City's tourism sector said that in 2018, the city strives to welcome from 7.5 million to 8 million international tourists and an estimated of 29 million domestic visitors.
The tourism industry saw a strong start in 2018 as the international tourist arrivals to Vietnam reached over 4.2 million people in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 30.9% year on year. Vietnam tourism earned more than VND10 trillion (US$440 million) from tourism in the first quarter 2018, up 30.3% year on year with Ho Chi Minh City posting the strongest surge of 32.3%, according to General Statistics Office (GSO).
