Ho Chi Minh City has long been considered a vibrant city, where visitors can clearly feel the fast, open and colorful pace of life. But in this city, many of the most attractive things are not yet clearly visible on the tourist map. These are not only famous buildings or familiar check-in points, but also very ordinary slices such as late-night eateries in alleys, morning markets, old cafes, Chinese neighborhoods or the typical rhythm of life of local residents.
At the talk show "Ho Chi Minh City, where every living experience can become a tourism product", held on the afternoon of April 4 within the framework of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival 2026, speakers mentioned a noteworthy reality. While some destinations such as Thailand or Japan have a return rate of about 60%, this figure in Vietnam is still below 20%. That gap shows that domestic tourism is not necessarily lacking in resources, but lacking in sufficient deep experiences to retain tourists.
With Ho Chi Minh City, this is even easier to see. The city has many things to explore, but most are still disjointed. Tourists can learn about some prominent landmarks, some familiar dishes or typical streets.
However, to fully feel the city's life, they often have to grope themselves. Many indigenous values have not been correctly identified as a tourism resource.
From the reality of creating content about Cholon Market on the Cholon Downtown canal, Ms. Quang My Thien believes that what foreign tourists often look for is not in the "must-visit" places according to the available list. What they are interested in is closer to the local rhythm of life: what do Vietnamese eat, where do they go in the evening, how do they live, what are the differences between long-standing residential areas.
According to Ms. Thien, when taking foreign artists to experience after performances, what they are curious about is usually not a famous project, but very ordinary details in daily life. It could be a late-night meal, an old street corner, a crowded residential area or how people meet, chat and use urban space. Such experiences bring a real feeling, helping tourists feel the city closer.
As someone born and raised in Cho Lon, she said that this area has long been mentioned through Binh Tay market or bustling trading activities. But behind that are many other cultural layers such as festivals, community customs, unique dishes, neighborhood memories and the rhythm of life of local residents. These are all potential materials, but have not been fully recounted on tourism platforms.
From the story of Cho Lon, it can be seen that Ho Chi Minh City does not lack experiences to develop tourism. The problem lies in the fact that those experiences have not been organized into clear products. A culinary alley, a long-standing neighborhood, a small cultural space or a habit of living of people can all become highlights. But to become true tourism products, they need to be connected by information, content and accompanying services.
From the perspective of building an ecosystem, Mr. Nguyen Tien Huy, representative of Localis. vn, said that what Ho Chi Minh City is lacking is not experience, but the way to "recount" and "package" those experiences. According to him, instead of just promoting individual destinations, the city needs to be introduced by the daily rhythm of life itself, from people, alleys, cuisine to cultural spaces. These seemingly small factors contribute to creating Ho Chi Minh City's own identity.
A current inadequacy is that tourism experiences in the city are still quite fragmented. Tourists can hear introductions about an interesting place, but it is difficult to find enough information to plan, book, pay or connect to other experiences. This lack of interconnection makes many indigenous values, although attractive, still not fully develop their potential.
At the event, the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center and Localis signed a cooperation agreement to develop the visithcmc. vn information portal. According to the shared orientation, this platform not only stops at providing information, but aims to connect products, services and tourism experiences of the city, especially experiences associated with local culture.
Ms. Nguyen Cam Tu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center, said that the development of visithcmc.vn is expected to create a more easy-to-use and accessible information channel for tourists. This is also considered a step in the city's digital transformation roadmap.
