HCMC makes effort in attracting tourists by small changes

To attract travelers to the city, districts in Ho Chi Minh City have made efforts to better activities day by day.
A foreign woman finds tourist information in 23 September Park (Photo: SGGP)
A foreign woman finds tourist information in 23 September Park (Photo: SGGP)
The city has set to attract 7.5 million international holiday-makers this year and 29 million local tourists to reach revenue of VND138 trillion ($6,061,373,705)
Tourist experts said though changes are small, they become strong push for the sector.
Since relevant agencies announced the information station placed in 23 September Park and Bach Dang Park in district 1, tourists have flocked to the two places to seek information, consultation. The two places each receive 160 - 170 tourists a day. An employee Thuy Trang said the travelers usually ask for information of bus, historic sites, hotel prices and various services.
One of the city’s highlights is food street Vinh Khanh in district 4 and  fashion street Nguyen Trai in district 5 when the night falls, visitors flock to these streets. Deputy Chairman of People’s Committee in district 4 said that food street Vinh Khanh has attracted many visitors with different nationalities.
The street has 170 booths mostly selling seafood dishes meeting food safety regulations.
Additionally, the city has Van Lang Park in district 5 which is famous as a place of social evils. However, it becomes now a stage for musical performance. City dwellers gather in the park in weekends.
To renew the district’s face in particularly and the city’s in generally, Deputy Chairwoman in district 5 Truong Thi Minh Kieu said it needs the join hand between local administration and residents. The district has gratis released 10,000 tourist leaflets in English and Vietnamese to visitors.
Along with this, the district liaised with the Department of Tourist and travel agents to introduce new tourist products. Ms. Kieu informed that the district is planing to offer free wifi in jewelry street, traditional medicine street, fashion street and arrange food street to facilitate visitors at night.
Moreover, the district schedules to install POS machine in these special streets to serve tourists and certify standard shops.
Truong Van Uong working in tourist sector said that tourists are sensible for small changes of localities including behaviors , waste baskets, restrooms. These things seem to be small but it is one of decisive factors whether tourists return the place. 
Take ChiangMai in Thailand as example, the district welcomes thousand tourists annually while its population is around 1.7 million, Mr . Uong said .
The city’s tourist sector is making efforts deeply and widely to renew its activities in a bid to attract visitors besides promotion programs, long-term planning which government must pay more. Instead, each district renews their face to catch visitors’ eye effectively.

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