HCMC enjoys promising start to the year
January 7, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
Several travel firms in Ho Chi Minh City reported promising signs of recovery as they welcomed guests over the first five days of the New Year arriving on Vietnam Airline flights, mainly from Europe.
Saigon Tourist Travel Service, the largest inbound operator in Ho Chi Minh City, reported it handled 1,000 international tourists from the US, Europe and other countries, 1 to 5 January.
HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism deputy director, La Quoc Khanh, reported to local media that he was pleased with the initial results over the first week.
“We had a tough year in 2009 and we are pinning high hopes on a recovery of the inbound sector this year,” he said.
The city received approximately 2.6 million foreign visitors in 2009, down by more than 200,000 compared to 2008. It was the first serious decline in international visitors since the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003. The city expects 2.8 million international visitors this year.
Based on a poor 2009 performance, the tourism sector is asking the city government for a higher budget for tourism promotion in 2010. Last year, the city spent VND9 billion on promotional activities, including sponsoring a trade show last October.
