HCM CITY  - The HCM City Department of Tourism held a ceremony to welcome the first tourists of 2022 at the city’s Tan Sơn Nhất International Airport.

They arrived aboard Vietnam Airlines flight VN245, Vietjet Air flight VJ157 and Bamboo Airways flight QH203 from Ha Noi.

Airlines, travel agencies offered gifts to the visitors.

They included 700 vouchers offering discounts of 20 per cent on bills of over VNĐ2 million at IPPG's DAFC fashion stores, 30 gifts worth VNĐ3 million, and 16 travel vouchers from Vietravel, TST Tourist, BenThanhtourist, Penguin Travel Service Company, and Viet An Tourism Company.

Speaking at the welcome ceremony, director of the department, Nguyễn Thị Ánh Hoa, acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the tourism industry last year.

In the fourth quarter nearly three million visitors came to the city, and tourism revenues topped VNĐ2.5 trillion, up more than 20 per cent from the same period in 2020.

Phu Quốc received 60,000 tourists during the New Year holidays.

Phạm Văn Nghiep, vice chairman of the Phu Quốc City People's Committee, said they included 1,000 international tourists coming with COVID-19 vaccine passports.

The arrival of international visitors is an optimistic sign for the island’s tourism industry. VNS