HCM City plans to launch a smartphone app for tourists this June.

Foreign tourists in HCM City

The HCM City Department of Tourism and the branch of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) in the city on March 28 signed a co-cooperation agreement on the joint development a smartphone tourism app.  

According to Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the municipal Department of Tourism, last year, the city welcomed more than 6.4 million foreign visitors, but only 30% came on groups and tours, while the rest were backpackers.

The department thinks it is necessary for the city to build a smartphone app for tourists, particularly backpackers, through providing them accurate information about places, shopping centres, food services as well as hotlines of management agencies. The app, which is expected to become operational this June, can be operated on both Android and iOS in Vietnamese and English.

The app has been developed in Hanoi, Dalat and Phu Quoc.

HCM City launched a new bilingual magazine in Vietnamese and English for tourists. Check-in Saigon magazine provides tourists with culture, people and food of the city. It also includes the opinions of travellers who came to the city.

The city has also put into operation two information and support centres for tourists on Bach Dang Wharf and 23/9 Park.

Dtinews/Nguoi Lao Dong