Foreign tourists visit the Central Post Office in HCM City. ITE HCMC is expected to promote the image of Việt Nam to international visitors and boost tourism. — VNS Photo Thu Hằng

The 17th International Travel Expo HCM City will double its size and bring together more than 400 exhibitors, according to the HCM City’s Department of Tourism.

ITE HCMC, organised by the department and Việt Nam National Authority of Tourism, will take place from September 7 to 9 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre.

As the country’s largest and most established annual international travel trade event, ITE HCMC is expected to promote the image of Việt Nam to international visitors and boost tourism.

The event, with the theme ‘Connectivity, Growth, and Sustainability’, will bring more than 150 international buyers from more than 31 countries and territories, and more than 6,000 B2B trade appointments between buyers and exhibitors will be arranged at the expo.

Lê Trương Hiền Hòa, deputy director of the city’s Department of Tourism, said that the fair would promote trade activities and enhance connections with key tourism markets as well as expand to new markets.

It will also step up tourism promotion and marketing, and enhance the destination’s competitiveness, he said.

New tourism offerings will be developed and showcased at the fair to meet the demand of high-spending and long-stay visitors, he added.

The expo will host a high-level tourism forum on “Digital transformation driving tourism development”, an ASEAN public relations and communications forum on “Destination marketing and sustainable communications” and several seminars on travel and tourism.

Việt Nam welcomed more than 6.6 million international arrivals in the first seven months of the year or 83 per cent of this year’s target, according to the Việt Nam National Authority of Tourism. — VNS