LookAtVietnam Bridge – HCMC has revised up a revenue target for the tourism industry from VND35 trillion to VND46 trillion (US$2.78 billion) by 2010.

The department will carry out promotion programs to attract foreign travelers to come to the city.

The new target is factored into the HCMC Department of Tourism's development plan for the sector in 2006-10, which has been approved by the city government.

"The target is based on last year's tourism growth of 12%," Dong Thi Kim Vui, director of the city's tourism department, told the Daily on Thursday.

Under the new plan, the sector will focus on key markets such as the U.S., Canada, France, Japan, China and ASEAN countries, and various potential markets such as Norway, Sweden, India, Indonesia and South Africa.

The department will carry out promotion programs to attract foreign travelers to come to the city, join international fairs, organize familiarization trips, and advertise in international media outlets like CNN.

For tourism products, the city will develop MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, events) tourism, shopping, tours of historical sites, sea tourism, health tourism, and others.

However, the department's plan seems to miss details about products, projects and a budget that will help the city realize the goals.

Asked by the Daily over this issue, Vui said that under the plan, the city would have to develop many more products but it would focus on MICE, and ecological tourism as main products.

"The city has seven major projects for MICE and ecological tourism development," Vui said.

These projects include a safari, a history park, and a tourism park in Binh Quoi-Thanh Da.

HCMC reported around 1.5 million international tourist arrivals in January-June, up 16% year-on-year, and total tourism revenue of VND14.6 trillion, up 40% year-on-year.

(Source: SGT)