Diversifying products from urban - industrial - marine linkages
After merging Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau from July 1, 2025, Ho Chi Minh City will form a diverse identity triangle, complementing each other. In this context, tourism is identified as one of the industries with strong potential for breakthroughs thanks to expanded space and increasingly clear regional connectivity. From the orientation of management agencies to the strategy of businesses, tourism products are being restructured to create new attraction for the market.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Minh Man - Deputy General Director of VinaGroup Tourism Company said that the company is building a product development strategy based on Ho Chi Minh City's "new ADN" after expanding with 4 spearhead product groups.
The most prominent is the "3 in 2" inter-regional tourism group, combining urban - industrial - marine. This is considered a typical product of the new Ho Chi Minh City.
At the same time, businesses focus on developing industrial tourism and innovation, exploiting the advantages of Binh Duong (formerly) and large urban - industrial parks. This is a segment that is growing rapidly, especially attracting young customers, foreign businesses and universities.
Another direction that is considered rich in potential is river tourism towards the sea when the short distance and connection between Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria - Vung Tau (formerly) are increasingly favorable. In addition, there are MICE products combined with resorts.
Notably, Mr. Nguyen Minh Man said that businesses are preparing to deploy helicopters to experience the city from above. It is expected that the unit will coordinate with service providers to introduce tourists in 2026.
Towards a tourism super city
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, the development orientation of the Ho Chi Minh City tourism super city is based on a unique triangle of identity when the city fully converges its strengths.
The first is the advantage of MICE tourism, cultural - historical tourism, street food and a regional and international event system. Second is the advantage of owning industrial parks, high-tech agriculture, traditional farms and craft villages, opening up potential for developing industrial urban tours, factory tours, riverside eco-tourism and creative urban areas.
The third is the advantage of high-class sea and resort tourism, spiritual tourism, golf courses, casino, prominent in Vung Tau, Long Hai, Ho Tram and especially Con Dao.
The representative of the Department of Tourism emphasized that this triangle of identity is not only a combination of resources but also a multiplication of the value of experiences. Thanks to that, Ho Chi Minh City has the opportunity to build unique and characteristic tourism products to meet the diverse needs of tourists.
In that context, recently, many wards in Ho Chi Minh City such as Xuan Hoa and Tan Dinh have also proactively renewed tourism products in the direction of taking people, memories and culture as the center.
However, to turn potential into reality, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism believes that synchronous support is needed in completing regional transport infrastructure and accelerating key projects. At the same time, there is a shortage of high-quality human resources for tourism, especially in the fields of marine tourism and industrial tourism, along with building a unified management mechanism after the merger, promoting the advantage of centralized management to create the most favorable conditions for businesses to deploy products.
