Nguyễn Thị Ánh Hoa, director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, speaks at a press briefing on Tuesday on the return of the HCM City International Travel Expo from September 8 to 10 after a two-year absence due to COVID. VNS Photo Thu Hằng

HCM CITY — The 16th HCM City International Travel Expo, the country’s largest travel event, will be held from September 8 to 10 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre.

ITE HCMC, an annual event in the Mekong sub-region sponsored by the Tourism Alliance of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Việt Nam, will return after an absence of two years due to the COVID pandemic.

The event, with the theme ‘Growing Forward Together’, is expected to bring together more than 1,500 travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and resorts.

Nguyễn Cẩm Tú, director of the HCM City Tourism Promotion Centre, told a press briefing on Tuesday that the culture, sports and tourism departments and tourism promotion centres of 41 cities and provinces would take part.

It would offer international tourism businesses the opportunity to find partners in Việt Nam and the rest of the Mekong sub-region, she said.

A programme with the participation of more than 150 international buyers from 18 countries and territories would arrange more than 6,000 B2B meetings between buyers and exhibitors, she added.

Nguyễn Thị Ánh Hoa, director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, said as the leading international tourism event in Việt Nam and the region, ITE HCMC had constantly improved in terms of scale and quality and would abet the recovery of tourism in Việt Nam and the region.

The World Travel Award had selected HCM City as the host for its 2022 Asia and Oceania Gala Ceremony, which would be held along with ITE HCMC, she said.

A high-level dialogue on tourism co-operation, a forum on Việt Nam MICE tourism and seminars on key and potential travel markets and digital transformation in tourism would be organised during the three-day event.

The expo will be organised by the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism, the city Department of Tourism, CIS Vietnam Company, and Le Bros Company.

It is expected to attract more than 22,000 visitors, including 10,000 trade visitors. —VNS