Hồ Chí Minh Metropolis’s cultural tourism alternative ready to be unlocked – Glamping Ardour

Cultural tourism holds plain potential to rise as certainly one of Hồ Chí Minh Metropolis’s most coveted signatures, but it surely nonetheless largely exists as a supplementary element.

HCM CITY — Hồ Chí Minh Metropolis’s wealthy and various cultural heritage stays largely untapped, held again by the absence of a unified technique. Consequently, cultural tourism performs a supporting function somewhat than getting into the highlight because the true heartbeat of its city tourism sector.

Tradition nonetheless an “add-on” product

Few cities within the area can rival HCM Metropolis’s cultural – historic panorama. Vestiges of outdated Sài Gòn endure in iconic French-colonial buildings such because the Central Publish Workplace, Independence Palace, and Notre Dame Cathedral; the Chợ Lớn space with its community of meeting halls, festivals, and signature delicacies of the Chinese language-Vietnamese group; an array of museums and revolutionary websites, from the Warfare Remnants Museum, the Hồ Chí Minh Metropolis Historical past Museum to the Southern Girls’s Museum, the Củ Chi Tunnels, and the Rừng Sác Army Base.

Complementing these bodily property are intangible treasures like đờn ca tài tử (southern beginner music), water puppetry and people festivals, that are priceless “smooth property” able to narrating the town’s distinctive city id. But, these property largely exist in fragmented type, missing the structured “packaging” wanted to rework them into high-value, economically impactful tourism merchandise.

Trade gamers affirm that native cultural tourism largely exists as a supplementary element. At Vietravel, for instance, museums and historic websites usually function add-ons to boost commonplace metropolis excursions or MICE itineraries.

Phạm Anh Vũ, Director of the Viet Journey Media JSC, famous that key points of interest just like the Independence Palace, Củ Chi Tunnels, Warfare Remnants Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, Nhà Rồng Wharf and Chợ Lớn Market are most frequently bundled with procuring sprees, culinary escapades and concrete sightseeing somewhat than curated into story-rich thematic excursions with allotted time and depth.

Journey operators identified that many guests, particularly home ones, understand HCM Metropolis in the beginning as an financial and leisure hub, choosing quick, versatile itineraries.

This choice deters substantial funding in bespoke cultural excursions which demand prolonged time and real curiosity. In an business the place margins are famously slender, operators sensibly gravitate towards versatile, simply marketable bundled excursions that promise swift returns and easy gross sales.

Insurance policies wanted to unleash true potential

As 2026 unfolds, a number of tour operators are reevaluating the place of cultural tourism inside their portfolios. Tần Quang Duy, Director of the Chim Cánh Cụt Journey Service JSC, treats it as a long-game precedence, but proceeds with measured, selective commitments somewhat than aggressive scaling.

In the meantime, the Việt Journey Media JSC is pursuing a phased rollout, specializing in two to 3 signature creations earlier than venturing additional afield. Excursions akin to “300 Years of Sài Gòn– From formative settlement to fashionable metropolis”, Chợ Lớn cultural excursions spotlighting the Chinese language-origin group, and heritage gastronomy and efficiency excursions are designed alongside curated routes, marrying professional storytelling with the residing canvas of the streets. These merchandise goal foreigners searching for in-depth experiences and home vacationers able to pay for cultural worth.

Cultural tourism holds plain potential to rise as certainly one of HCM Metropolis’s most coveted signatures. Nonetheless, systemic bottlenecks stay, significantly fragmented coordination with heritage and museum administration models, restrictive opening hours, administrative purple tape, mental property constraints and restricted know-how integration.

In opposition to this backdrop, the town was urged to subject a complete and long-term cultural tourism growth technique, through which the municipal administration acts as an orchestrator, clearly figuring out key cultural and heritage axes, investing in infrastructure, pedestrian areas and night time excursions; and forging substantive public – personal partnership mechanisms. — VNA/VNS