Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday held a ceremony to welcome the first foreign travelers to the city in 2023 at the international passenger terminal of Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

The annual activity, jointly held by the municipal Department of Tourism, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, and Tan Son Nhat International Airport, showed the city’s hospitality.

The organizer of the ceremony also gave special gifts to six lucky passengers on Vietnam Airlines’ flight VN30, which flew from Frankfurt, Germany and landed in Ho Chi Minh City at 7:25 am on Sunday, and five other passengers on Vietnamese budget carrier Vietjet’s flight VJ841 from Taiwan who arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 8:50 am.

The gifts are an opportunity to experience new tourism products launched by local travel firm TST Tourist in Thu Duc City, under Ho Chi Minh City, and free visits to the Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Museum.

Through the welcome ceremony, the city also wanted to wish tourists luck, peace, and happiness.

Arriving in the city, the first tourtists were surprised at activities to experience traditional craft villages, witness local artisans creating calligraphical works, painting 'non la' (conical hats), making 'to he' (toy figurines), and performing traditional Vietnamese music on traditional instruments, and drink tea.

Kieu Anh, a resident of Ho Chi Minh City who returned to the city after two years of living in Frankfurt, said the ceremony was a success as it brought tourists many emotions on the first day of the new year.

“When I was still on the plane, I cried as I saw my motherland,” she said.

After a Christmas holiday with his family in Germany, Florian Deichman returned to Ho Chi Minh City on the first day of the year.

He was surprised to be one of the lucky passengers. Deichman said he was keen on Vietnam’s tourism and considered Ho Chi Minh City as his second home.

His family members also want to return to Vietnam, he added.

The municipal tourism sector is taking many measures to quickly develop tourism in a stable and sustainable manner.

The city welcomed over 3.46 million international visitors in 2022, a 100-percent surge over 2021 and meeting 99 percent of the target.

In addition, it served more than 31 million domestic arrivals, soaring 234.1 percent year on year and exceeding the target by 24.9 percent.

Tourists’ longer stays and higher spending helped the city earn an estimated VND131.1 trillion (US$5.6 billion) in tourism revenue, rocketing 196.4 percent year on year.

At the ceremony to welcome the first international tourists to the city, Ho Chi Minh City vice-chairman Duong Anh Duc said 2022 was a successful year of the city’s tourism.

Its numbers of foreign and local tourists and the tourism revenue doubled those in 2021.

Tourists to the city can now experience more activities, thus extending their stays.

The city has also connected tourist sites, which was applauded by tourists.

The city will continue creating the most favorable conditions for tourists in 2023. It will introduce more activities and destinations in the city as well as in neighboring provinces.

“The city will further improve the quality of services to satisfy tourists and attract them to return to the city. With the growth momentum in 2022, we expect to gain greater achievements in the new year," Duc said.

“We hope tourists can see the city’s hospitality and feel comfortable during their stays.”

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