The Ho Chi Minh City International Tourism Fair 2020 has been cancelled.

The Ho Chi Minh City International Tourism Fair (ITE HCMC) has become an annual tourism event, attracting hundreds of buyers from many countries. According to the plan, the 16th ITE HCMC in 2020 is expected to take place from September 4-6, 2020 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (District 7) with the theme "Gateway to World Tourism".

This is an annual event of the Vietnamese tourism industry under the direction of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism in coordination with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, VINEXAD Company and Informa Exhibitions Company, aiming to focus on promoting the domestic tourism market and receiving support from the tourism alliance of 5 countries: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

However, according to the latest announcement from Mr. Tran Vinh Tuyen - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City will not organize the 2020 International Tourism Fair as planned. The temporary suspension of the ITE HCMC 2020 event is aimed at implementing measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic in the new situation; while ensuring the effectiveness and scale of the national tourism event.

Mr. Bui Ta Hoang Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that the department had sent survey forms to exhibitors. The majority of businesses are still monitoring the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, noting that key tourism markets in Vietnam are heavily affected by the disease, leading to restrictions on overseas travel.

"The tourism industry is heavily dependent on consumer sentiment and is very sensitive to safety and security aspects. In the recovery phase, regaining people's trust to travel again after the pandemic will be a challenging task," Mr. Vu said.

In 2019, ITE attracted participation from 42 countries and territories, 14 foreign tourism promotion agencies, 45 Vietnamese provinces and cities, 250 international buyers, 315 exhibition booths with over 8,000 trade appointments; attracting 30,000 trade visitors and members of the public.

My Tong