The Ho Chi Minh City International Travel Expo, the 12th of its kind, will take place in the southern metropolis from September 8-10, with a view to attracting foreigners to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.

During a press conference in Hanoi on July 28, the organising board said the event is to attract 270 stalls and nearly 200 foreign buyers, including travel operators from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Nearly 30,000 visitors are expected to join the event, up 20-30 percent from 2015.

For the first time, well-known travel bloggers from Denmark, France, Finland, Norway and the UK will be invited to share their experience in promoting tourism on social networks.

Seminars discussing tourism markets from Russia, North America, Australia and New Zealand, as well as five Mekong downstream river cities, and a responsible tourism forum are also planned.

The annual Mekong Tourism Award will honour travel firms from Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar in recognition of their contributions to tourism.

This year’s award will go to three new categories, including the tourism website of the year, the television programme on tourism promotion of the year and the cultural-tourism festival of the year.

Over the past 11 years, the expo opened up opportunities for major tourism cities of Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Yangon and Ho Chi Minh City to link up with each other.

VNA