Preparing resources for the new development phase
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh - Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, with the room to expand after the merger, Ho Chi Minh City is facing the requirement to innovate products, build more attractive tourism programs, extend stays and increase tourist spending.
Besides the efforts of management agencies, each travel business and related unit must proactively improve the quality of human resources, towards professionalism to meet the increasing needs of tourists in 2026 and the following years" - Ms. Khanh emphasized.
Reality shows that Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry has recorded positive signals right from the beginning of 2026. In the 4-day New Year holiday, the city is estimated to welcome about 1.24 million visitors, international visitors to Ho Chi Minh City reached more than 75,700, with tourism revenue reaching more than 2,600 billion VND. This is considered a favorable foundation for the goal of high growth throughout the year.
New space, new thinking for Ho Chi Minh City tourism
Mr. Pham Huy Binh - Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism - said that in 2025, especially after the merger phase, the city enters a new development space with clear expanded potential.
This requires the tourism industry to make breakthroughs in operation, towards efficiency and quality.
Along with that, Resolution 260 of the National Assembly (amended and supplemented Resolution 98) has opened up many specific mechanisms and policies, creating an important basis for Ho Chi Minh City to build breakthrough development orientations for tourism in the coming period.
In 2026, Ho Chi Minh City's tourism industry sets a double-digit growth target, aiming for a role commensurate with the leading economic position of the whole country. The focus of development is on MICE tourism, waterway tourism, promoting promotion, digital transformation and implementing policies to support businesses.
In 2026, the city's tourism industry aims to welcome about 11 million international visitors, 50 million domestic visitors, with total tourism revenue estimated at 330,000 billion VND. The focus is on continuing to implement the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Development Project to 2030, with the orientation of improving quality and diversifying products, focusing on the city's typical tourism products.
Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh - Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism - said that Ho Chi Minh City is entering a new stage of development with the role of regional center and increasingly clear international gateway. This is an opportunity for the city to reposition itself more strongly on the regional and international tourism map.
However, according to Mr. Khanh, the new development space also sets higher requirements, forcing the Ho Chi Minh City tourism industry to innovate thinking, growth models and management methods, shifting from rapid expansion to sustainable development.
City tourism breaks through comprehensively
Ho Chi Minh City tourism breakthrough comprehensively - raising international standards is 1 of 12 outstanding milestones in 2025 just announced by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. In which, city tourism breaks through comprehensively with the "event-in-event" model, forming the International Economic - Tourism Week.
