Vice Chairwoman of the HCM City People's Committee Nguyen Thi Thu (L) greets the five millionth foreign visitor.

Nguyen Thi Thu, Vice Chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Committee said the event marked the city’s sustainable tourism development.

With its advantages and potentials, HCM City has spared no effort, created favourable conditions for tourism development and build a friendly environment to draw more international visitors, she added.

The number of visitors to HCM City has been on the rise over the years, with an annual average growth of 8.2 percent. Revenue from tourism services have increased by 16.4 percent on average, accounting for 9 percent of the city’s gross domestic product (GDP).

HCM City expects to welcome more than 5.2 million foreign tourists in 2016, a rise of 10 percent against last year, and served 21.8 million domestic visitors, up 10 percent year-on-year.

The city’s tourism sector has set goals of serving 5.5 million foreign tourists and 24 million domestic visitors, with total revenue of 112 trillion VND (around 4.9 billion USD) in 2017.

VNA