Ho Chi Minh City to package indigenous “living essence” into an all-in-one tourism product

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Apr 09
8 min read
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Instead of merely promoting destinations, the city should be presented through its everyday rhythm of life, from its people, alleys, and cuisine to its cultural spaces. It is the sum of these small experiences that creates the identity for Ho Chi Minh City tourism.

Within the framework of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival 2026, the talk show “Ho Chi Minh City – where every living experience can become a tourism product” taking place on the afternoon of April 4 brought profound perspectives on how a dynamic metropolis can “transform” daily life into unique tourism values.

The program gathered many prestigious speakers in the fields of tourism, media, and content creation, such as Mr. Nguyen Tien Huy – CEO of Localis.vn (an enterprise in the field of culture-based marketing and tourism communications, affiliated with Pencil Group), Mr. Martin Koerner – Commercial Director of The Anam Group, Mr. Nguyen Khoa My – Chairman of the Vietnam Public Relations Network, Mr. Dang Hoang Tung – Board Member of Hong Ngoc Ha Travel Company, Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh – CEO of TikTok Vietnam, and content creator Quang My Thien.

More than just a talk show, this was also a connecting space between businesses, creators, and the tourism-loving community – where ideas were sparked and spread. From practical experiences to development strategies, each sharing opened up new approaches in building tourism products associated with indigenous experiences.

Tourists need true “localis” experiences
Starting the discussion, Mr. Nguyen Tien Huy shared his personal experience during a trip to China many years ago. Although he had some prejudices about the billion-people country before arriving, it was an indigenous tour guide who helped his group “connect” with the people and culture there throughout the journey.

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“We lived like indigenous people, like true ‘locals’, which completely changed my mindset about China,” Mr. Huy said. From this very experience, Mr. Huy raised the issue of how to bring tourists the most authentic experiences through the stories of the local people themselves – whom he calls “Localis”.

“The connection of tourists through people, through authentic experiences when integrating into local culture – that is an extremely deep connection, and it not only affects the local economy because tourists will return many times, but it also affects ourselves – every single tourist,” Mr. Huy emphasized.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Martin Koerner believed that every tourism product needs to be associated with a story. “What tourists bring home, what they retell their relatives after the trip, those are the things we need to sell. In Mui Ne, there are sand dunes, inside which are freshwater lakes, and every year lotuses bloom in these lakes in the summer. And we decided to tell about it the way the Japanese tell about their country’s cherry blossoms.

We bring tourists a simple experience like riding a jeep across the sand dunes to watch the sunset. After that, tourists can sit on a boat gliding on the lake, watching the last rays of sunlight fall on the lotuses and enjoying a cup of lotus tea. Just that alone has brought many differences. We don’t create destinations, we only create moments and stories to tell about them. That is also the reason for tourists to return multiple times and recommend it to their friends.”

From a business perspective, Mr. Dang Hoang Tung, a board member of Hong Ngoc Ha Travel Company, said that personally, as someone who loves to travel, he really likes to experience local culture and people at a deep level, rather than just checking in to say he has been there. “As a tourist, I want to go to a place, maybe stay for a few days, read about the culture, history, and ideally, interact with local people at a restaurant or eatery to chat and understand more deeply about the local life and culture,” Mr. Tung shared.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh stated: “When building content on digital platforms, we often ask the question: what makes you proud of your hometown. Once that is identified – whether it’s the people, destinations, food, or events – the story becomes very easy to spread. That pride permeates the storyteller and creates value, creates spirit, making viewers feel it and continue to spread it.”

According to Mr. Thanh, the children of Ho Chi Minh City are also retelling their stories, the stories of this city every day. “It is the authentic content about the people, cuisine, and life in this city on digital platforms that will create the demand for domestic and foreign tourists to come and experience life here, rather than professionally staged content,” Mr. Thanh affirmed.

Tourism is about transmitting emotions, not just introducing another destination
Born and raised in Cho Lon, content creator Quang My Thien shared that her birthplace has not been fully told on tourism platforms. When searching, many people only see Binh Tay Market or the bustling trading areas, but do not see the layers of culture, festivals, or very distinct dishes that locals consider normal. Therefore, she built the Cholon Downtown channel to retell familiar stories from a personal perspective; her channel has contributed to making many people seek out Cho Lon to experience it.

My Thien shared that when guiding foreign artists to experience the city after their performances, what they care about is not the “must-visit” places, but how Vietnamese people eat, live, and feel the city. “They want very different perspectives on Vietnam, real experiences that are close to everyday life,” My Thien said.

According to My Thien, the important thing is not introducing another destination, but transmitting emotions. “When the story comes from your own experience, it is real enough to touch the viewers and make them want to come and feel it themselves,” she said.

“In Cho Lon where I live, there is a very delicious Chaozhou pastry called ‘bánh pía’, but previously almost only Cho Lon people knew about it. Actually, that small bakery is over 100 years old. Upon realizing this uniqueness, I started making video clips telling stories around this pastry – from how it is made, its meaning, to the occasions when people usually gift it to each other. It is from such very small stories that more and more people know about the bakery. And now that bakery has become a tourist destination,” the female TikToker added.

Digitizing indigenous “living essence” into an All-in-one tourism product
According to The Outbox Company’s Vietnam’s Travel Landscape 2026 report, Vietnam’s tourism Net Promoter Score (NPS) only reached 24.2 – less than half the regional average (53.4), while the average spending per international tourist in Vietnam is only about 32 million VND/trip compared to 39 million VND in Thailand – showing that the tourism industry is growing in volume but has not created experiences deep enough to retain and increase value per tourist.

Therefore, Mr. Nguyen Tien Huy believes that the core issue of Ho Chi Minh City tourism today is not a lack of experiences, but a lack of ways to “retell” and “package” those experiences. According to him, instead of just promoting destinations, the city needs to be told through its everyday rhythm of life, from people, alleys, and cuisine to cultural spaces. It is the sum of these small experiences that shapes the positioning of Ho Chi Minh City.

However, without a digital platform, these experiences will remain fragmented. Conversely, with an “all-in-one” ecosystem, tourists can discover, book, pay, and personalize their journeys in a seamless experience.

This is also the reason why the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center and Localis signed a cooperation agreement to develop the visithcmc.vn portal right at the event. According to Mr. Huy, Localis will participate by providing the technology platform and operating team, aiming to transform visithcmc.vn from an information website into a “living ecosystem” – where the city’s stories, experiences, and people are continuously updated.

“The greatest value of visithcmc.vn is creating a platform where Saigon people themselves tell the story of Saigon. Not just another tourism website, but an ecosystem where every experience is designed by indigenous people, supported by technology, and endorsed by the city’s tourism management agency. That is the most authentic way to ‘retell’ the city,” Mr. Huy emphasized.

Sharing about the event, Ms. Nguyen Cam Tu – Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center, emphasized: “The cooperation to develop visithcmc.vn does not just stop at building a website, but creating a connection platform, a useful, easy-to-use, and accessible information channel, helping to enhance the experience for tourists. This is a strategic step for the City’s tourism to transform strongly in the digital era. We expect this portal to become an effective bridge between destinations and tourists, contributing to spreading the image of a ‘open – youthful – vibrant – exciting – forward-looking’ Ho Chi Minh City to international friends.”

Through the signing to upgrade the visithcmc.vn ecosystem, the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center and Localis have officially launched the roadmap to transform fragmented indigenous rhythms into invaluable tourism assets. This step has outlined the face of the future of tourism, where technology blends with identity to bring the “living essence” of Ho Chi Minh City to the hearts of tourists with just one touch, positioning the city as a must-visit destination on the world map.