DRMumbai: The 14th International Travel Expo Ho Chi Minh City – ITE HCMC 2018 – scheduled to be held from September 6 to 8 at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC), will see over 30,000 international, regional and local trade travel professionals, buyers and public, making it the largest travel and tourism show in the region.
ITE HCMC is being organised by Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, HCMC Department of Tourism, VINEXAD Trade Fair & Advertising JSC and Informa Exhibitions, supported by Ministry of Tourism, Kingdom of Cambodia, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tour- ism, Lao PDR, Ministry of Hotels & Tourism, Myanmar and Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Kingdom of Thailand. It is endorsed by Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism, Vietnam and People’s Committee of HCMC.
ITE HCMC has established itself as an important annual international travel event in the Mekong region. With an array of programmes, including ITE Online Business Matching, Trade Seminars, Post-Show Tours and Exhibition, ITE HCMC 2018 is set to provide all participants with new business opportunities.
ITE HCMC is the ideal platform for travel companies looking to develop both inbound and outbound tourism business in CLMTV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) countries.
In July, Lonely Planet named Asia’s best destinations for 2018 and no surprises, HCMC was at number three, outstripping much sought-after destinations like Lumbini (Lord Buddha’s birth place in Nepal), Western Ghats (South India) and Nagasaki (Japan). The renowned travel publisher while making the selection wrote – “the southern super city of Ho Chi Minh City somehow keeps getting cooler”.
Ho Chi Minh City hopes to receive 7.5 million international visitors in 2018. HCMC served more than 6.38 million international holiday-makers in 2017, up 22.88 percent year-on-year. Tourism authorities have set an ambitious national target of 20 million foreign visitors a year by 2020. From just 2.5 lakh overseas tourists in 1990, Vietnam has registered 13 million tourist arrivals in 2017.
From 2010 to 2016, the number of Indian visitors to Vietnam grew impressively – from 33,000 in 2010 to 85,000 in 2016 – an average increase of 17 per cent per year. In 2016 alone, Indian visitors to Vietnam increased by 30 per cent compared to 2015, but this number only accounts for roughly 3 per cent of India’s 2 million visitors to other ASEAN countries in 2016. Almost all Indian visitors to Vietnam travel to HCMC.
The first direct flight between Ho Chi Minh City and New Delhi will be launched in November this year by LCC Vietjet Air. In a double delight of sorts, Vietnam has also extended its e-visa and visa-on-arrival programme to include India. In May, Indian LCC IndiGo also announced plans to launch flights to 24 new international destinations, including Vietnam, in the next 18 months.
About 30 per cent of FTAs to Vietnam are from China. But the nation’s tourism board is relooking at strategy in its number one source market. Under review now are the ‘zero-dong’ tours. Run by Chinese-owned proxy companies, these are low-priced package deals aimed at budget travellers, despised for injecting little into the local economy and recognisable by their bus-loads of tourists. The Chinese FIT, on the other hand, is much in demand with unlimited spending power and driven by a desire to experience something new and unique.
Vietnam also wants a larger inflow of Indian tourists, who are yet to show as much interest in this far eastern country as they do in its neighbours like Thailand and Malaysia. As many as 20 million Indians travel overseas every year, while less than 1,00,000 visit Vietnam.
Saigon or HCMC often labelled ‘The Pearl of the Far East’ is a tourist paradise with interesting sights, unique food experiences, umpteen shopping options and an energetic night life. Interestingly, motorcycles are a convenient way of getting around in HCMC. Start with Reunification Palace, where decades of conflict, firstly with the French and then the Americans, finally came to an end in April 1975.
A short walk away is the War Remnants Museum that highlights the atrocities committed by American forces such as the notorious My Lai Massacre. Also nearby is the striking Notre Dame Cathedral and the equally impressive Central Post Office, dating back to French colonial times. Stop by The Ben Thanh Market, a good place to buy unique coffee.The Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre in District 1 is the most popular place to see a puppet show.
