HCMC – Due to the difficulties facing travel firms as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism authority of HCMC has teamed up with 50 provinces and cities nationwide to organize the HCMC Tourism Festival 2020 from July 16 to 19 at Le Van Tam Park in the city’s District 1, in an attempt to promote domestic travel and encourage people to purchase travel products and services.
With the international travel segment being suspended and the modest number of domestic tourists, tax incentive policies introduced to support affected businesses do not help them much, noted Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the HCMC Tourism Department, at a press briefing introducing the event.
The tourism industry will recover after being hit hard by this public health crisis only once travelers hit the road, the official added.
Through this event, the organizer expects to help travel firms improve their revenues and prevent the risk of bankruptcy, thus helping the industry recover and enabling travel employees to retain their jobs.
The event will feature 150 booths manned by tour operators active in HCMC, tourism promotion agencies and travel firms from 50 localities across the country. Besides this, there will also be 50 food booths promoting Vietnamese and international cuisines.
The city will organize a tourism stimulus program at the event, offering a wide selection of tours and services with discounts of up to 30%. In addition, the southern city will launch new tours, including city tours worth less than VND100,000 each.
Apart from the tourism festival, the city’s tourism sector is set to implement multiple plans to attract more tourists, including one in coordination with the HCMC People’s Committee to open the City Hall to visitors.
The tourism department is working with the municipal government on the plan, aimed at exploiting the cultural and historical values of the city’s iconic buildings to promote tourism. The century-old headquarters is expected to remain open to visitors at fixed hours by the end of the year or early next year.
By Dao Loan
