Tourism images of HCMC will be displayed at the Cannes Film Festival in France set to take place for 10 days starting from May 17.

Foreign tourists in HCM City

Aside from large-sized billboards placed in front of the Majestic Barriere hotel and opposite Palais des Festivals to capture international guests’ attention, the HCMC Department of Tourism will meet international guests to introduce the city’s tourism products at the event.

Ngo Phuong Lan, director of the Vietnam Cinema Department, said the 70th Cannes Film Festival will attract great public attention, creating great opportunities for tourism and cinema sectors. In addition to billboards, Vietnam will have a booth introducing film projects and organizing the Vietnam Night event on May 20.

“We have sought to promote the images of Vietnam at many international film events but this is the first time the HCMC Department of Tourism has participated in an international event on a large scale to introduce the images of the city and Vietnam as a whole,” Lan said at the event introduction ceremony on May 9.

Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the HCMC Tourism Department, said France is one of 10 major source markets for the city’s tourism sector, so the tourism authority will step up marketing activities in this market through Cannes.

LYNK Investment Trading Service Construction Co Ltd is the sponsor of the promotion program with a total expenditure of one million euros, said Ly Nha Ky, board chairwoman of the company.

HCMC lured about 1.58 million international visitors in the first quarter, up 15% over the same period in 2016. Tourism revenue reached about VND27,770 billion (US$1.22 billion), up 15.6% year-on-year. About seven million international visitors are expected to come to the city this year, up by 1.8 million against last year.

SGT