Connecting products from urban areas to suburban areas
Ho Chi Minh City is possessing many advantages for tourism development thanks to its central location, synchronous infrastructure and wide connectivity. From the inner city area, tourism products are gradually expanding to destinations such as Can Gio, Cu Chi, forming a diverse chain of experiences from culture, history to ecology.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu - Marketing - Communications Director of Vietluxtour Company - said that strengthening regional linkages, especially in MICE tourism development, is an effective direction. With its role as an economic center and large event infrastructure, Ho Chi Minh City has many advantages to become a destination for conferences, seminars and large-scale business tourism programs.
When combining urban products and regional linkages well, Ho Chi Minh City can transform from a tourist gateway into a complete experiential destination for international tourists and businesses" - Ms. Thu emphasized.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh - Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, tourism is a general economic sector, so linkage is an inevitable factor for development. Connecting localities not only creates strength but also helps diversify products and exploit the potential of each region well.
Ho Chi Minh City has advantages in the tourist market, especially international tourists. When well connected with localities, each place will add strengths to each other, forming a product chain attractive enough to retain tourists longer.
Increase links to retain tourists
Strengthening links between Ho Chi Minh City and localities is also being promoted to expand tourism space and improve market exploitation efficiency.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Tinh province - assessed that Ho Chi Minh City is an important source market, capable of attracting and distributing tourists to localities. Promoting the tourism promotion program in the Southeast market is of great significance to Ha Tinh in accessing key markets, expanding visitor sources and promoting tourism development linkages.
According to Mr. Thanh, to increase stay time, it is necessary to build linked products, form closed tour routes, and diversify service types to improve experience and avoid boredom.
Mr. Pham Huy Binh - Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism - analyzed that the Southeast region, with the core being Ho Chi Minh City - the most dynamic economic region in the country - has outstanding advantages in market size, transport infrastructure, connectivity capacity and synchronous tourism ecosystem development. The city currently has more than 1,800 travel businesses, nearly 5,000 accommodation establishments and over 9,000 licensed tour guides. With these advantages, Ho Chi Minh City and the Southeast region are not only an important tourist source market but also a focal point for connecting, spreading and promoting the effective exploitation of tourism products of localities.
Reality from promotion activities shows the clear effectiveness of the linkage. The Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival 2026 recently gathered more than 120 booths, introducing about 1,000 products with discounts up to 50%, achieving estimated revenue of about 120 billion VND. Not only stimulating demand, the event also contributes to connecting businesses and localities, creating a foundation for building a linked tourism ecosystem in the new period.
