Largest travel trade show in Vietnam has gotten underway in Ho Chi Minh City with a large presence of travel trade stakeholders from across Vietnam in order to discuss business with their counterparts from over 25 countries.

The International Travel Exhibition ITE HCMC 2022, which is the largest travel trade show in the south-east Asian nation of Vietnam, that opened on Thursday to visitors and trade delegates from across the world attracts large number of buyers and visitors.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the Department of Tourism of HCMC, said that the tourism market in HCMC in particular and Vietnam, in general, had been receiving positive signals, with more than 1.4 million international visitors in the first eight months of 2022, 13.7 times higher than the same period in 2021.

As the leading international event in Vietnam and the region, ITE HCMC 2022 opens up great opportunities for localities and enterprises to attract domestic and international visitors during the peak season at the end of this year, at the same time, contributes to promoting the growth of tourism in Vietnam, as well as other countries in the region. Especially, Vietnam’s tourism has lately been honoured at the World Travel Awards in Asia and Oceania, showing its strong attraction.

Also present was Graham Cooke, founder of the Word Travel Awards, whose company hosted the World Travel Awards Asia and Oceania gala ceremony at the GEM center Ho Chi Minh City, who was an invited speaker at this prestigious event.

According to estimates from the Department of Tourism of HCMC, in the two days of ITE HCMC 2022, there were thousands of direct trade appointments between international buyers and sellers. More than 25 countries and territories, including key inbound tourism markets, participated in the fair, such as the US, Australia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Romania, Poland, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Kuwait.

Within the framework of ITE HCMC, many provinces and cities, such as Quang Nam and Bac Kan, also simultaneously organised promotion activities and advertised destinations in HCMC. Bac Kan is a mountainous province in the Viet Bac war zone, about 160 km North of Hanoi, with many scenic spots and unique historical sites. Notably, Ba Be Lake has been recognised as one of the 20 most beautiful natural freshwater lakes in the world that need to be protected. Quang Nam is a locality famous for destinations, such as Hoi An Ancient Town, My Son Temple Complex, and Cham Islands.

According to Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, Deputy General Director of Vietravel, one of the largest travel company in Vietnam, right after the opening, her company welcomed many clients from Europe and other countries in the region. Tung Lam Development Joint Stock Company – the investor of Yen Tu Destination – said it welcomed more than 100 clients from European countries, Japan, and South Korea on September 8 and 9. This group of tourists is interested in leisure tourism in Vietnam.