Impressed by the quality of the products and gifts they bought from Ben Thanh market or souvenir shops in Ho Chi Minh City, many tourists have returned to the city simply to buy the goods in larger quantities.

Japanese, South Korean, and Malaysian tourists are those who return on the most frequent basis to place larger orders after they buy small quantities of the goods, according to traders.

Dang My Van, the owner of a shop that sells footwear, bags, and handicrafts on downtown Dong Khoi Street, said Japanese and South Korean customers have returned to her shop because the recipients of their gifts spoke highly of the products.

Van said her latest order is from a South Korean tourist who wanted to buy as many as US$20,000 worth of woven handbags from her store.

Meanwhile, Ly Thi Tuyet Mai, a small vendor at Ben Thanh market, said many Malaysian customers buy hundreds of pieces of fabric each time they visit her booth. They resell the cloth at home to make a profit, Mai revealed.

Vo Thi Kim Trang, another fabric vendor at the market, said 90 percent of her Malaysian customers prefer Vietnamese cloth to Chinese.

A female tourist from Brunei said she has visited Vietnam three times in 2013, and each time visited Ben Thanh to hunt for quality souvenirs.

“I once bought dozens of pairs of sandals to give to my relatives as gifts,” she told Tuoi Tre while choosing sandals at a booth inside the market.

The owner of the booth said she sells several hundred pairs of sandals each day, 70 percent of which are bought by Southeast Asian buyers.

Duong Thi Mai Lan, deputy manager of Ben Thanh market, said there are 1,470 booths inside the market, which welcomes some 10,000 visitors on a daily basis. As many as 90 percent of the visitors are foreign tourists, she added.

Lan said around 70 percent of the goods are sold under wholesale orders.