Foreign tourists enjoy a painting service on Nguyen Van Binh book street in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VNA)

During the period, the southern economic hub also welcomed over 8.57 million domestic tourists, marking a year-on-year increase of 6.3%.

Total tourism revenue rose 26.7% year-on-year to 56.66 trillion VND ( 2.21 billion USD), achieving 21.8% of the 2025 plan.

According to the department, to continue introducing the city's destinations and distinctive tourism products, the department has coordinated with businesses and the People's Committees of Thu Duc city and districts to promote the development of inter-district tourism products.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 – 2025), the city’s tourism sector has launched and organised communication activities on social media platforms to announce the identity package and communication message "Find Your Vibes" along with 50 graphic images of iconic structures and symbols depicting notable destinations in the city.

Its "personalised avatar" campaign has received significant interest, attracting over 14,870 avatar downloads from the website 50years.visithcmc.vn/avatar.

The tourism department, the city’s Women's Union and other agencies jointly organised the 11th Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival in March with attractive activities honouring the Vietnamese traditional dress.

To boost waterway tourism, the department has surveyed routes linking Ho Chi Minh City with provinces in the Mekong Delta and southeastern region, re-launching 14 routes featuring tourist speedboats and cruise ships from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta provinces, including two connecting to Cambodia. The city plans to develop 22 new routes between Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta, and Cambodia./.