VietNamNet Bridge – The HCMC government has entrusted Saigontourist Holding Company to develop river tourism and agreed on the firm’s proposals to create some typical tourism products for the city.

A restaurant boat is seen in the Saigon River. The HCMC government expects that the river tourism will create a difference to attract tourists.

At a review meeting of Saigontourist last week, HCMC vice chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong also asked the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to work with Saigontourist on ways to develop river tourism and make a report to the city in March.

“We expect that river tourism will be a typical product to help attract more tourists to HCMC,” Hong said.

Besides, Saigontourist’s proposals of developing infrastructure, including wharves and rest stops to make tourist sites more accessible have received approval from the city’s government.

In recent times, HCMC has carried out many activities to develop river tourism. Specifically, the HCMC Department of Transport, together with District 1, District 8, District 9, Can Gio District and Cu Chi District, have been told to prepare projects for wharves, piers as well as tourists sites in districts. Besides, some short river tour routes have been launched.

According to Hong, HCMC’s tourism is facing strong competition from not only other provinces but also international destinations. The city’s advantage of being a transit hub with seaports and international airport to attract tourists is losing its appeal as ports and airports have already been being developed in other provinces.

“Therefore, HCMC needs to quickly develop its own attractive and typical products to maintain its reputation as the country’s biggest tourism center,” Hong said.

In related news, according to Tran Hung Viet, general director of Saigontourist, the firm welcomed nearly 1.63 million tourists last year, up 2.8% from the previous year. Besides, the company earned VND13.037 trillion in revenues and VND3.845 trillion in gross profit, up 10.5% and 7.4% respectively.

Saigontourist expects the number of tourists this year to rise 4% and achieve a revenue growth of 9.8%.

Source: SGT