HCM CITY — The 8th annual HCM City Tourism Day Festival to be held this month will seek to promote the local travel industry amid a global economic slump.

The event, scheduled to be held at the 23/9 Park in District 1, will be hosted by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the HCM City Tourism Association.

La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the department, told a conference on Thursday that the main purpose of the festival was to stimulate domestic tourism demand.

It sought to do that by acting as a bridge between travel companies and customers, he added.

The highlight of this year's event will be the Sac Mau Le Hoi Viet Nam (Colours of Vietnamese Festivals) and a fete to honour city tourism brands.

The festival will feature a tourism fair with more than 150 booths set up by 80 travel companies, while Vietnamese and international cuisines will be showcased at 20 other booths.

A photo exhibition titled Anh Dep Le Hoi Viet Nam (Beautiful Photos of Vietnamese Festivals), will highlight the various landscapes around Viet Nam.

A performance of don ca tai tu (southern amateur music) will be another major attraction.

People making tour bookings at the event stand to win prizes and freebies.

Organisers hope to attract 300,000 visitors this year, up from 200,000 last year.

Last year HCM City raked in revenues of VND56 trillion (US$2.7 billion) from tourism, or 11 per cent of the country's total.

It welcomed 3.5 milliion international visitors and 14 million domestic visitors.

The festival will be held from April 12 to 15. — VNS