Ho Chi Minh City welcomed the six millionth international visitor to the southern economic hub during the year at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on December 15.

The six-millionth foreign visitor is welcomed by Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, on December 15, 2017

The sixth international guest is Mitchener David William, who was on flight VN780 by the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines from Austria to HCM City.

Speaking at the ceremony, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, head of the HCM City Tourism Department, affirmed that the event marked a new step and the successful start of the city in developing its tourism, with the growth of more than 1 million international visitors in 2017 compared to last year in 2016.

Vu suggested that in 2018, the department and other municipal agencies should continue to maintain and improve the quality of tourism promotional events, such as Nguyen Hue Flower Street 2018, Ao Dai Festival and HCM City Tourism Festival, along with concentrating on completing overall planning on tourism development, facilitating implementation of the Law on Tourism 2017 and promoting waterway travel.

The leader of HCM City's tourism sector said that in 2018, the city strives to welcome from 7.5 million to 8 million international tourists and an estimated of 29 million domestic visitors.

In 2017, international arrivals to the city are estimated at 6.39 million arrivals, an increase of 22.8 percent from 2016, reaching 110 percent of the set plan. Total tourism revenue is approximately at 116 trillion VND, up 12.6 percent over the same period last year and meeting the set plan./. VNA