A press conference to provide information on the first Ho Chi Minh City River Festival was organized on August 1 by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Sports and districts.
The first HCMC River Festival to take place at different locations from August 4 to August 6.
The festival will take place in Saigon Cruise Port, Bach Dang Wharf Park, Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal area, Binh Dong Wharf and Suoi Tien Cultural Tourist Area from August 4 to August 6, aiming at advertising land, people and cultural identity of Ho Chi Minh City in particular and Vietnam in general.
Visitors can experience water sports and activities like a boat race at the Bach Dang Wharf, paragliding and flyboard performances, an art lighting show above the sky and so on.
Besides, around 30 or 40 boats of units that are exploiting tourism on the Saigon River with colorful decorations will parade along the river in the evenings to advertise the festival.
It is expected that the first Ho Chi Minh City River Festival will lure thousands of turns of visitors and residents.
The highlight of the festival will be a show describing the establishment and development of the Saigon– Gia Dinh- Cho Lon- Ho Chi Minh City through periods. The show will be organized at the Saigon Cruise Port at 8 p.m. on August 6 with the participation of more than 750 actors, folk artists, directors and experts.
Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa (L) speaks at the press conference
Speaking at the press conference, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa informed that since the beginning of the year, Ho Chi Minh City has welcomed over 2.3 million turns of international visitors, up 208.3 percent over the same period last year, reaching 47.2 percent of the plan. Of which, the number of domestic tourists was estimated to reach 18.6 million, an increase of 40 percent over the same period in 2022.
Total tourism revenue reached more than VND93,500 billion (US$3.9 billion), up 55 percent over the same period and reaching 58.5 percent compared to the set target this year.
The Republic of Korea, China, Australia and the United States are the largest tourist markets of Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular. The city’s tourist industry hoped that the festival would become an annual event of HCMC to attract more and more domestic and foreign tourists to the city, added Ms. Hoa.
By Thi Hong - Translated by Huyen Huong