VietNamNet Bridge – Museum entrance fees will be raised in accordance to a direction of the HCM City People’s Committee, announced the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Sept 17.

Foreign visitors in front of the War Remnant Museum (Photo: SGGP)

The municipal People’s Committee said that the decision to increase museum entrance fee was based on the Ministry of Finance’s Circular 02/2014 on fees for entrance to museums, historic sites or cultural landscapes.

In reality, museum entrance ticket prices in Ho Chi Minh City have applied for over decades without changing. Currently the fee is rather low, about VND2,000-5,000 (US$1 to 2.5) per a Vietnamese  and VND10,000- 15,000 (US$0.5 to 0.7) for a foreign visitor.

Many museums in the city have offered free tickets for children, senior citizens, army force heroes, veterans, disadvantaged people and visitors from rural areas…

Director of the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum Hoang Anh Tuan said that the museum could not be maintained or upgraded with the current income.

The museum had proposed a new fee for next years with VND30,000 per a foreigners in 2015 and VND40,000 for a foreign visitor in 2016, he said.

Mr. Tuan said that if the new fee proposal is approved, domestic visitors will be exempted all to create conditions for Vietnamese, esp. young people to learn more about history and culture of the country.

The War Remnant Museum has also proposed same hike of fees.

Director of the city-based Fine Arts Museum Ma Thanh Cao said that the hike of fees would help upgrading and raising service quality.

The city has now 9 museums under the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s management including two private museums. Some of them including the War Remnant Museum, the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum and Ho Chi Minh Museum can attract visitors; the remaining is for students’ learning.

SGGP/VNN