The 19th Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival closed on an upbeat note on Sunday, with many travel firms at the event reporting handsome sales as their tours for the upcoming five-day holiday sold very well.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said the festival enabled local residents, visitors at home and abroad to explore and choose their favorite tours to embark on during the upcoming five-day holiday late this month and the summer vacation.

The five-day holiday lasts from April 29 to May 3 to celebrate Hung Kings Commemoration Day, Reunification Day, and International Workers’ Day.

“With VND60 billion [US$2.5 million] that participating tour firms gained at the event, the city’s tourism sector is expected to see its tourist arrivals in the summer holiday reaching a new high,” Hoa said.

Vietravel, a local tour operator, served around 3,100 visitors and booked over VND50 billion ($2.1 million) in revenue from selling inbound and outbound tours for the upcoming holiday and the summer at the four-day festival, according to a representative.

Tours for the upcoming holiday account for over 60 percent of its total inbound tours sold during the first three days of the festival, the Vietravel representative said.

Saigontourist, another local travel firm, also served more than 3,000 visitors at the event.

Its inbound tours to destinations in Vietnam’s central and Central Highlands regions as well as outbound tours to Southeast Asian destinations such as Thailand and Cambodia attracted a lot of visitors.

Tours sell like hot cakes

BenthanhTourist reported visitors’ purchasing power over the weekend rose four-fold agaisnt the first day of the festival, with a certain visitor booking a tour worth VND77.99 million ($3,333) and making a same-day payment.

Many other visitors booked group tours and opted for overseas tours to Europe, Australia, Israel or Japan.

The booth operated by Benthanhtourist served around 5,000 visitors, but they earned high revenue, as most visitors booked family or group tours, the firm’s representative elaborated.

PINI, a tourist site in Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, which joined the festival for the first time, sold a host of tours and entrance tickets for the upcoming holidays and served some 10,000 visitors at the event.

Lasting from April 6 to 9, The 19th Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival featured over 128 booths run by 30 travel businesses and tourism service providers from 48 provinces and cities.

The event attracted more than 190,000 visitors at home and overseas, up by over 40,000 against the year-ago figure, according to the Department of Tourism.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!