Saigon’s tourist arrivals will almost double by 2025, according to a UK tour website.
TravelSupermarket is a UK-based price-comparing service that provides British tourists with package holiday deals. Recently, the firm created an interactive feature on its website detailing the world’s fastest-growing travel destinations. Framed as a collection of “places to see before everyone else,” the list should be taken with a grain of salt, but it might be interesting to observe the world’s travel trends.
According to TravelSupermarket, it used data from market research company Euromonitor International to “reveal the fastest growing projected tourist arrivals in major cities around the world for 2025.” These figures are then compared with actual tourist arrivals in 2017 to calculate the percentage increase in growth.
In the final ranking of percentage growth, Ho Chi Minh City comes in at No. 5, with a projected 85.5% increase in tourist visits. In 2017, the city welcomed some 5.5 million travelers, and it’s estimated that this number will balloon to 10.2 million in 2025. Hanoi is ranked 16th on the list, with 4.3 million visits last year and a projected tourist population of 7.42 million come 2025.
Judging by the overall ranking, the next decade will be a time for Asia to shine: of the 25 top destinations, only Cairo is not in Asia. Two Indonesian cities – Jakarta and Denpasar – hold the top two positions, while Indian and Southeast Asian cities rounded out the top ten.
With this amazing tourism potential, Saigon’s economy stands to gain a lot from the projected influx of tourists. However, for Saigoneers, this could also send chills down our spine, as the city's current infrastructure is nowhere near capable of handling almost five million more people.
Over the years, Saigon has seen some improvements in terms of transportation options, such as a modest water bus route and revamped bus service, which – hopefully – will be further expanded in the future. But until the city’s notoriously delayed subway network is more fleshed out, such a tourism boom might put even more strain on the southern metropolis’ already exhausted thoroughfares.
