Vietnam's southern HCM City to promote river tourism overseas

Representatives of Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City will attend the Singapore Yacht Show 2014 for the first time in April to promote river tourism which is expected to become a major product of this southern economic hub, local media reported Wednesday.

Enterprises and the tourism promotion agencies in the city will attend the annual show in Singapore from April 8-13 to establish relations with partners as well as popularize the city's river tourism, local Saigon Times Daily quoted sources from HCM City Tourism Promotion Center as reporting.

The city has almost finished handing over the site of Bach Dang Wharf in District 1 to Saigontourist Holding Company to make it a terminal for tourist boats, said the center's Deputy Director Nguyen Bao Anh, adding that the city also released a list of wharfs, piers and stations in districts 1, 8, 9, Cu Chi and Can Gio to attract investment.

Together with the show in Singapore, the city is preparing for a tourism promotion roadshow to be organized in Japan in April in coordination with Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

In addition, this year the city's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will coordinate with Japanese partners to hold a tourism forum with participation of around 40 Japanese enterprises who are interested in the Vietnamese market.

In 2013, foreign arrivals to HCM City is estimated at 4.1 million, increasing 8.1 percent over 2012 and reaching 100.2 percent of the set target.

This year, the city's tourism sector targets 4.4 million foreign visitors, a year-on-year increase of 7 percent and equivalent to 55 percent of the country's total.

It is expected to earn 94 trillion VND (4.4 billion U.S. dollars), or 43 percent of the country's total turnover and 15 percent higher than last year, according to the city's tourism service.