Vietnam Develops Tourism Industry

Filed in archive Travel News on October 25, 2007

Since embracing more relaxed policies on foreign visitors in 1994, Vietnam has grown exponentially as a tourist destination. Ho Chi Minh City (AKA Sai Gon) is flush with new hotels. A more spacious airport, slated to open in 2010, will all but assure that Viet Nam becomes a major (perhaps THE major) player in the tourist industry of Southeast Asia.

Here are some recent developments in Ho Chi Minh City's tourist infrastructure:
1. A new tourist bus service. Aside from taxis and xe om (motorbike taxis), the only option for tourists is walking. Sure, the local bus costs pennies, but if you don't speak the language and if you are not comfortable with the whole "not stopping, just slowing down so that you can jump off" thing, they are unusable.
2. There are plenty of new hotels going up. The Continental Hotel is still there, a holdover from Graham Greene's days. Newer hotels like The Caravelle and New World offer a new brand of luxury, while other older inns are getting multi-million dollar makeovers. The Majestic Hotel is seeking to add nearly 200 rooms.
3. I've already mentioned the new airport. When it is gone, I'll miss weird-and-cool feeling of touching down at Tan Son Nhat and seeing the overgrown fields lined with Vietnam War era cement hangars. I'll also miss the $5 taxi rides into the city. Located outside the city, the new airport will, reportedly, be connected to the city via a 10-lane expressway.

Will Ho Chi Minh City become the next Singapore? Unlikely. But all this development will certainly make it a more popular destination.