Ho Chi Minh City has found a place on UK travel website Culture Trip’s short wish list for travelers planning their next trip in 2019.

HCM City the only Southeast Asian representative in 12 destinations for cultural discovery listed by UK travel website Culture Trip.

The list is based on an analysis of cities that have seen the highest growth in millennial interest on the Culture Trip site and app and a survey of 300 of the company’s local creators, who are based around the globe.

Ranked fourth, Ho Chi Minh City is described as an affordable destination with a buzzing cultural scene to match, making it perfect for cash-strapped millennial travelers. “A booming economy has brought a roaring energy to the city, palpable as soon as you leave the airport, and that energy increases as soon as you try ‘ca phe da’ (iced Vietnamese coffee), a jolt of caffeine and sugar like no other,” the site wrote.

It also recommended travelers meander around the city’s neighborhoods and hidden alleyways in search of street food and displays of public art.

The first three places on the list were Oaxaca City (Mexico), Porto (Portugal), and Austin (US), with Cape Town (South Africa), Lima (Peru), Tokyo (Japan), Istanbul (Turkey), Budapest (Hungary), and Marrakech (Morocco) following Ho Chi Minh City.

Formerly Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam and recently welcomed its 7 millionth foreign visitor of the year. The local tourism sector has seen annual growth of roughly 15 per cent over recent years.

It is accelerating the implementation of its tourism development strategy, focusing on sustainable and green tourism in connection with environmental protection, and technological applications for tourism development. It has set targets of expanding tourism growth by between 15 and 20 per cent in 2019 and welcoming 8-8.5 million foreign holidaymakers.

VN Economic Times