Ho chi minh city

Ho Chi Minh City plans to establish a tourist information and support office at the end of this year to provide information, advice and support for tourists, especially those encountering problems like robbery and illegal soliciting. Foreign tourists get help from local volunteers to cross a busy street in downtown HCMC - PHOTO: DAO LOAN HCMC Chairman Le Hoang Quan has approved a scheme proposed by the City’s Department of Tourism to form such a tourist help office. Two pilot information stations are expected to go up on September 23 at Park next to the landmark Ben Thanh Market and Bach Dang Wharf Park in District 1. The stations, which would be open from 7:30 a.m to 10 p.m, are where tourist-related issues like robbery, illegal soliciting and overcharging can be handled. Visitors can also seek information and advice about quality tourism products and services at these stations. The tourist information and support office is scheduled to come on stream in December. The … [Read more...] about Ho Chi Minh City to strengthen security for tourists

(TITC) - CNN Channel (U.S.A) has announced “Top 10 fastest tourism growing cities in the world”, of which Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam) ranks 10th. According to CNN, with the tourism growth of 12.9%, Ho Chi Minh City shows the fast tourism development for many recent years. Besides the impression of a dynamic city with the modern and a little ancient beauty, tourists to Ho Chi Minh City are also fascinated by friendly people and rich culinary culture. Located in a transitional zone between South East and Mekong River Delta, the city has the terrain of hills alternated with the medium and low coastal areas, forming beautiful natural landscapes such as Tien Spring, Mo Spring, Can Gio Mangrove Forest… Ho Chi Minh City now becomes a harmonious combination place between traditional culture of Vietnamese people and unique culture of the West. Along with preservation of almost the cultural and historical relics such as: Quoc To Temple (National Ancestors Temple); Nha … [Read more...] about Ho Chi Minh City in the top 10 fastest tourism growing cities in the world

This newly released video shows how some members of a pickpocketing gang stole mobile phones and other belongings of foreigners in Ho Chi Minh City’s backpacker area. Last December, the city police arrested around 30 suspects of two gangs that targeted foreign tourists in the area, which borders by Bui Vien, Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham and Cong Quynh streets in District 1.. The gangs were led by Huynh Thi Ngoc Dung, 30, and Tang Thi Thuy Trang, 38, of District 4. According to the police, the team members usually gathered at the Cong Quynh-Bui Vien intersection at around 10 p.m. every day. They were assigned with different tasks. They drove motorbikes along Bui Vien, Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham and Tran Hung Dao to look for male foreigners who looked drunk after coming out of restaurants and bars. Some women, who also disguised as street peddlers, would approach and distract the target by groping them before grabbing their wallets or mobile phones. Several male members would wait on their … [Read more...] about Video shows how pickpockets steal from foreigners in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – The 8th People’s Council of Ho Chi Minh City concluded its 20th session on December 11 with the adoption of a resolution on the city’s economic-cultural-social targets for 2016. Under the resolution, the city will strive for a gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth of 8 percent, in which the proportion of the total factor productivity (TFP)’s contribution to the GRDP should be at least 35 percent. The total social investment capital will be equal to 30 percent of the GRDP and the rate of trained labourers is 75 percent. The city also aims to generate 125,000 new jobs. The urban unemployment rate will be maintained at 4.5 percent and cut the poverty rate by one percent according to new standards under the “sustainable poverty alleviation” programme during 2016-2020. All households will be supplied with clean water. Another important mission the city pursues is to be one of top five localities in the Provincial Governance and Public … [Read more...] about Ho Chi Minh City sets social-economic goals for 2016

British Prime Minister David Cameron surprised quite a few people during a brief visit to Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, local media reported. Cameron, who was visiting Vietnam from July 29 to 30, became the first serving British PM to visit the country. After Hanoi, he visited HCMC, the southern metropolis, on Thursday morning. He met with the city’s Communist Party chief Le Thanh Hai and mayor Le Hoang Quan. During his talks with Hai, Cameron said the UK is willing to share experiences with Vietnam in infrastructure development, finance, urban planning, education and public-private partnership development. He praised the city’s efforts in carrying out economic reforms and creating a favorable business environment for local and foreign investors. Cameron also attended the Vietnam-UK Business Forum, met with British and Vietnamese investors and visited the HCMC Stock Exchange. He then surprised many customers and the staff of Ngon Restaurant on Pasteur Street in District 1 … [Read more...] about British PM Cameron visits Ho Chi Minh City’s pagoda, stock exchange

(TITC) - On 27 March 2015, in Ho Chi Minh City, Hotel Department (Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT)) in collaboration with Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme - Funded by the EU (EU Project) organized a training course for Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Tourism, Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Southern provinces on evaluation criteria, assessment methods and issue of Green Lotus Sustainable Tourism Label. This is the 3rd course in the total of 6 training courses for local tourism management agencies to complete and raise the knowledge about evaluation criteria and issue of Green Lotus Tourism Label, thence improving the quality of tourism accommodation facilities, leading up to the target of developing Viet Nam tourism as a key economic sector. The training course had the attendances of Director of Department of Science - Technology and Environment (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - MoCST) Tu … [Read more...] about Training on Green Lotus Sustainable Tourism Label in Ho Chi Minh City

(TITC) – The world’s famous travel guide book publisher “Lonely Planet” has just announced the top 10 world’s destinations with reasonable cost for 2016. Both Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City have ranked 2nd. Located in the Red Rive Delta, topography of Ha Noi is alternated by rivers, lakes, mountainous and hills forming many beautiful sightseeing such as: Hoan Kiem Lake, West Lake, Ba Vi Mountain, Huong Son Landscape…In addition, over 1,000 years of establishment and development with many ups and downs of history, Ha Noi still remains its valuable ancient architecture works including Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long - Ha Noi, Quan Thanh Temple, Tran Quoc Pagoda, Quan Su Pagoda, Long Bien Bridge…and maintains many famous traditional craft villages such as Bat Trang Pottery Village, Ngu Xa Bronze Casting Village, Van Phuc Silk Village… Belonging to the monsoon tropical climate region, Ha Noi has four seasons of … [Read more...] about Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City listed in top 10 world’s destinations with reasonable cost

HCM City (VNA) – The number of foreign visitors to Ho Chi Minh City this year is estimated at 4.7 million, fulfilling this year’s target and up 7 percent from 2014, according to the municipal People’s Committee. The number of domestic visitors is put at around 19.3 million, up 13 percent from last year. The tourism sector estimates its revenues for the year at 94.6 trillion VND (4.22 billion USD), 10 percent higher than last year. The city has focused on tourism promotion on the mass media, particularly television, said Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Pham Huy Binh. Additionally, a wide range of promotion events have been organised throughout the year, such as Nguyen Hue Flower Street Festival, Tourism Day, Southern Cuisine Festival, Southern Fruit Festival, Long Dress Festival, Binh said. The launch of the Nguyen Hue pedestrian street and the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe waterway tourism route was also believed to help attract visitors to the city. … [Read more...] about International visitors to Ho Chi Minh City up 7 pct

The efforts of travel firms and HCM City’s authorities have helped the local tourism sector maintain its growth trend despite declines in the number of tourist arrivals to Vietnam this year. Local travel agencies have recently launched a wide range of new services that meet tourists’ tastes and win their favour, including a city tour by bike and another tour discovering Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal. The city organised and planned to hold a number of promotion activities this year, including an Ao Dai (traditional long dress) festival in March, a southern food festival in May, a southern fruits festival in June, an international travel expo in September and an international delicious dishes festival in December. In addition, promotion activities were also organised in Australia , Japan , the Republic of Korea , Russia , Eastern Europe and Indonesia . HCM City is improving and standardising tourism service quality via a programme to select the city’s 100 interesting things, … [Read more...] about Ho Chi Minh City tourism maintains growth

If you expats are leisurely walking along a street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City and a man comes out of nowhere to invite you to buy his coconuts, chances are he is going to rip you off. >> An audio version of the story is available here There are several groups of coconut peddlers who only target foreign tourists to force them buy coconuts at cut-throat prices, or invite them to pose for a photograph with their ganh – the bamboo yokes hung with baskets at each end used to carry the fruits around – and charge them a great deal. When a couple of tourists were heading to Nam Ky Khoi Nghia in District 1 on May 5, they were stopped by a coconut vendor named Ngoc, who jumped out from his hiding place on Nguyen Du Street. The peddler spoke a few sentences in pidgin English and immediately passed his ganh onto the shoulders of the male tourist, much to the latter’s surprise. Finally, the holidaymakers were asked to pay VND200,000 (roughly US$10) for two coconuts, … [Read more...] about Inside look at coconut rip-offs in downtown Ho Chi Minh City