The annual International Travel Expo scheduled for September 30 to October 2 in HCMC’s District 7 will highlight river tourism and health tourism in the city as well as the world heritage sites in the country, the organizer said.

Nguyen Bao Anh, deputy head of the Tourism Promotion Division under HCMC’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told the Daily on Tuesday that the organizing committee would set up booths to promote above-mentioned products and tourist sites alongside the booths of tourism service providers.

The event at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center will also incorporate a conference to promote destinations of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia with a focus on river tourism with an aim to link up the river routes of the three countries.

Under the theme “Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam - Three Countries, One Destination,” the travel expo will feature a tourism exhibition, meetings between travel buyers and sellers, free-show tours and seminars. The expo will also include the ASEAN Tourism Investment Forum.

The event organizers are the city’s Tourism Department, IIR Exhibitions Pte Ltd and VINEAX.

Anh said 266 tourism service buyers from 43 countries put their names down to join the travel expo.

Up to now, 62 exhibitors have booked booths at the expo, including tourism service providers and provincial tourism promotion departments from Binh Thuan, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, and foreign tourism promotion departments of India, Cambodia, Taiwan, and South Korea. Anh said the organizing committee would continue to receive registrations of exhibitors.

In addition, five international media agencies named Travel News Weekly/Travel World (China), MICE in Asia (Malaysia), Travel for Life (Russia) and CNN Traveler (America) have registered to join the expo.

The city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is asking international airlines like Vietnam Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Turkish Airlines to support guests and organize familiarization trips during the event.

Source: Saigontimes