The number of Ho Chi Minh City’s people travelling on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival recorded a rise of 30% over the previous Tet with more than 40,000 people choosing the 3-5 day local tours.

Also on this occasion, 15,000 city dwellers travelled abroad, mainly to Australia, the US, Europe, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Thailand, Cambodia, and Taiwan and Hong Kong (China).

Travel agents also reported a year-on-year 20-30% increase as far as the number of travellers is concerned.

The city expects to welcome 288,000 international tourists in February, a year-on-year 15% rise. The occupancy rate at three to five-star hotels reached 68 percent during Tet. The Saigon Travel Service Company (Saigontourist) said it had received 7,500 foreign holiday makers to welcome Tet in the city.

The city has also upgraded its entertainment facilities which have attracted more than 2 million visitors. (VNA)