The 18th International Travel Expo Ho Chi Minh City (ITE HCMC 2024) formally opened at the moment, on 5 September, 2024, at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony had been Nguyen Van Hung, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Vietnam, and Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee; together with former leaders of the Party, the Government, the Central Economic Commission, tourism leaders from varied international locations, and leaders from provinces and cities in Vietnam and overseas.
Over three days, from September 5 to 7, 2024, the ITE HCMC 2024 will welcome 700 leaders from main international tourism organisations and companies from 38 international locations and territories.
Travel traits have additionally undergone vital adjustments
In the welcoming speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Nguyen Van Dung, highlighted that the tourism development linked to environmental safety, pure useful resource conservation, and cultural heritage preservation is important for the sustainable growth of the tourism trade.
He acknowledged that after greater than two years of restoration, the international tourism trade has practically returned to pre-pandemic ranges. According to the UN Tourism, in the first quarter of 2024, there have been over 285 million worldwide vacationers globally, reaching 97% of pre-pandemic ranges. Asia-Pacific alone reached 82% of pre-pandemic ranges. In Vietnam, in the first seven months of 2024, the complete quantity of worldwide guests reached practically 10 million, a 51% increase in contrast to the identical interval final yr and an nearly 2% increase in contrast to the identical interval in 2019. Along with the restoration in visitor numbers, journey traits have additionally undergone vital adjustments.
97% of Vietnamese vacationers want to journey extra sustainably
According to the 2023 Sustainable Travel Report by Booking.com, 80% of international survey contributors confirmed that sustainable journey is turning into more and more essential to them. In Vietnam, 97% of Vietnamese vacationers surveyed expressed a want to journey extra sustainably in the subsequent 12 months, 75% had been keen to pay extra for licensed sustainable journey choices, and 83% hoped to assist make locations greener and cleaner after their visits.
Following this international development and fulfilling the Vietnamese Government’s dedication to Net Zero emissions, Vietnam has carried out quite a few packages and plans for sustainable growth throughout all sectors, together with tourism.
“To continue concretising the goal of sustainable development, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Vietnam and the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City have selected the theme “Sustainable Travel – Creating Future” for the 18th International Travel Expo Ho Chi Minh City 2024. This demonstrates Vietnam’s dedication, particularly Ho Chi Minh City’s, to successfully implementing tourism growth actions aligned with the 17 sustainable growth objectives of UNESCO. The goal is to cut back emissions and shield pure and cultural environments in each exercise of the Expo, together with the High-Level Forum with the theme “Green transformation, Net Zero travel & tourism – creating the future,” six thematic seminars on sustainable tourism growth, exhibitions, enterprise networking occasions, surveys, and different supportive actions.”…
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Under the theme “Sustainable Travel – Creating Future,” ITE HCMC 2024 goals for international locations, areas, territories, governments, and companies to proceed pursuing sustainable growth objectives, quickly and decisively implementing efficient tourism growth plans at each nationwide and native ranges whereas contributing to international emission discount efforts, defending pure sources, and preserving each residing and cultural environments for present and future generations.
The Expo may also focus on options and initiatives to make clear Vietnam’s imaginative and prescient for strategic tourism and particularly Ho Chi Minh City’s function in creating a sustainable tourism id that balances financial advantages with cultural, social, and environmental values.
ITE HCMC 2024 is a useful alternative for Ho Chi Minh City to replace and study from worldwide experiences for the implementation of insurance policies to develop the tourism trade, considerably as the metropolis accelerates the implementation of National Assembly’s Resolution 98/2023/QH15 on piloting particular mechanisms and insurance policies for the growth of Ho Chi Minh City.
Aiming to present options and insurance policies to drive sustainable tourism growth
ITE HCMC 2024 is proud to be a prestigious tourism Expo, gathering a whole bunch of senior leaders and tourism specialists from home and worldwide markets for in-depth seminars and boards. This success outcomes from shut collaboration between the ITE HCMC Organising Committee and varied Ministries and Agencies to join influential leaders and specialists who will focus on new tourism traits, challenges, and enterprise alternatives.
In the context of sustainable tourism as the “key” to enhancing vacation spot competitiveness, below the theme “Sustainable Travel—Creating Future,” ITE HCMC 2024 will collaborate with home and worldwide businesses to host 9 in-depth seminars and boards over two days from September 5 to 6. These occasions will supply profound insights, specialised information, and sensible expertise to ship sensible options and suggest efficient insurance policies and methods to contribute to the promotion of sustainable tourism growth.
One program that attracted the consideration of each home and worldwide audio system and the media is the High-Level Tourism Forum: “Green Transformation, Net Zero Travel & Tourism Creating the Future”, consisting of two dialogue classes. Speakers and attendees will trade concepts on Net Zero and the function of inexperienced transformation in tourism growth, thereby proposing options to obtain inexperienced transformation and develop Net Zero tourism in the tourism trade.
The seminar “Empowering Local Communities through Sustainable Tourism”, co-organized by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism and the UNWTO Regional Support Office for Asia and the Pacific (UNWTO RSOAP), will replace contributors on traits in community-based tourism and the sensible growth of community-based tourism in the Mekong Delta area. Participants will share successes and challenges in community-based tourism tasks by displays and discussions.
In addition, different outstanding specialised seminars and workshops embrace:
- The seminar “Application of AI in International Communication and Sustainable Tourism,” co-organized by PR Newswire;
- The workshop “Net Zero Tourism Database and Practice Criteria,” co-organized by HCMC Tourism Magazine;
- The workshop “Orientation for Promoting Sustainable Tourism Development through ESG,” co-organized by Oxalis Adventure, Znews.vn Magazine, and VnExpress;
- The worldwide convention “Promoting Responsible Tourism associated with Nature and Wildlife Protection and Saying no to Ivory,” co-organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature in Viet Nam (WWF-Vietnam);
- The seminar “The Power of Communication in Fostering Sustainable Development,” co-organized by the Vietnam Public Relations Network (VNPR);
- The seminar “Halal friendly Services – Where the Global Halal Travel Meet,” co-organized by Vietnam National Halal Company;
- The seminar “Enhancing India Tourism through Culinary and Cultural Experiences,” co-organized by the Consulate General of India.
Promoting development in worldwide vacationer markets to Vietnam
ITE HCMC 2024 has seen spectacular development this yr, with the quantity of exhibiting models reaching 480. Domestic exhibitors make up 77%, whereas worldwide exhibitors account for 23%. Many worldwide exhibitors have massive, well-invested cubicles, demonstrating vital curiosity in and excessive regard for the Vietnamese tourism market.
One of the essential highlights of ITE HCMC is the International Buyer Program, which noticed a 10% increase in worldwide patrons in contrast to final yr. 220 worldwide patrons from 33 international locations and territories will arrange over 10,000 B2B commerce conferences, offering alternatives for networking, negotiations, and signing future cooperation agreements. Besides essential tourism markets reminiscent of Australia, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, India, the Middle East…, for the first time, ITE HCMC 2024 will welcome worldwide patrons from Brazil, the Czech Republic, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Notably, the participation of main international journey companies reminiscent of Flight Center Travel Group (Australia), Intrepid (Australia), Collette (USA), and Exim Tour, half of the DERTour Group (Germany), will create vital alternatives to broaden and promote worldwide vacationer markets to Vietnam, whereas additional elevating the picture and place of ITE HCMC in the Asia area.
Throughout 18 editions, ITE HCMC has constantly grown and expanded in scale. This additional underscores the essential function of commerce promotion actions in creating the worldwide vacationer market to Vietnam, creating alternatives for promotion and connecting companies worldwide working in the fields of aviation, motels, journey businesses, tour operators, and tourism administration – all of that are facilitated by ITE HCMC 2024.
