Ho Chi Minh City’s ranking as the second-best city globally for retaining residents underscores its burgeoning appeal as not just a tourist destination, but a highly livable and desirable place to work and reside. This accolade, revealed in Gensler’s City Pulse 2025 report, highlights the city’s transformation into a global powerhouse, exceeding even major metropolises like Singapore, Sydney, Berlin, Munich, and Vancouver in resident retention. This achievement transcends economic growth, signifying the creation of a compelling living environment that fosters long-term commitment and prosperity among its citizens.
A City that Captivates and Retains: Implications for Tourism
The high ranking of Ho Chi Minh City in resident retention, as highlighted by Gensler’s City Pulse 2025 report, presents a significant opportunity for the tourism sector to leverage international data for promoting the city’s vibrant and desirable image. According to Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Tourism, this ranking signifies much more than economic prosperity. “This result showcases the city’s appeal isn’t solely based on its economic growth rate, but also its ability to foster a living environment that makes residents want to stay and thrive,” Hoa stated. “Ho Chi Minh City is no longer simply a place to work or visit; it has become an inspirational living space where residents feel a sense of belonging, are motivated to innovate, and enjoy their lives.”
This positive perception sets the stage for developing deeper and more immersive tourism products, including cultural tourism, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourism, community tourism, and experiential tourism. These sectors align with the city’s sustainable tourism development strategy. The city’s allure extends beyond attracting workers; it has the power to retain them. This translates to a significant shift in tourism dynamics. Instead of short-term visits, tourists are now more inclined to return for extended stays, deeper immersion, and stronger connections with the city, possibly even choosing Ho Chi Minh City as a place to study, invest, or build a career.
Resident Retention: A Key to Tourist Retention
The ability of a city to retain its residents directly correlates with its capacity to retain tourists, particularly those planning extended stays. Hoa emphasized, stating that “When residents choose to stay, it serves as the clearest testament to the city’s inherent appeal, particularly its rich urban cultural identity – a distinctive element that sets Ho Chi Minh City apart for both residents and tourists.” A city that successfully retains its residents becomes an ideal destination for tourists, particularly long-term visitors, international experts, and the global young generation. This serves as a foundation for bolstering Ho Chi Minh City’s image as a modern metropolis rich in cultural depth and friendly to the international community.
Residents’ fondness and pride in their city transform them into enthusiastic tourism ambassadors, contributing positively to the city’s image. High resident retention rates reflect fundamental elements of a sustainable development strategy, prompting investments in public spaces, nighttime cultural events, river transport, and metro lines. All are aimed at enhancing quality of life for both residents and tourists, embodying the “Stay Longer – Feel Deeper” vision. This strong sense of community facilitates the implementation of policies aimed at attracting and retaining high-quality human resources in crucial sectors, such as services, technology, and creative industries.
This transformation is further propelled by Ho Chi Minh City’s strategic shift from a transit point to a compelling destination. Investments in infrastructure and services have broadened public spaces, improved the urban ecosystem, and launched the metro line 1 and river bus services. The city is steadily realizing a comprehensive tourism model where visitors can live, work, and enjoy long-term residency, rather than simply visiting. This lays a strong foundation for the MICE industry and the “stay longer – work effectively” model.
Long-Term Resident Retention: Fueling MICE Tourism and Extended Stays
The remarkable statistic of 61% of Ho Chi Minh City residents stating they “do not want to leave” vividly illustrates the city’s intrinsic magnetism as an ideal place to live and work, providing the impetus for extended stays. This is a crucial asset for Ho Chi Minh City’s competitiveness in MICE tourism. The ability to host lengthy events is significantly enhanced as international experts and delegates tend to stay longer and work more productively.
The high level of resident attachment provides a form of “social proof,” enhancing the credibility of Ho Chi Minh City as a preferred destination for conferences, workshops, and exhibitions among international associations and corporations. The proud, dedicated community acts as tourism ambassadors, actively assisting in hospitality and elevating the MICE tourist experience. To capitalize on these advantages and establish Ho Chi Minh City as a “stay longer – work effectively” destination, the city’s tourism sector is focusing on synchronized investments in infrastructure and services.
This includes expanding and upgrading the international convention center to a 5-star standard and perfecting the transportation network – connecting the metro, water buses, and shuttle buses linking MICE hotels with event centers. The city will also develop more public spaces and support facilities such as co-working spaces and lounges for professionals, or “workation” models merging dining, cultural experiences, and entertainment within the urban environment.
Collaborative Strategies for Sustainable Tourism Growth
Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism department is committed to inter-agency collaboration for expanding green spaces, developing the river transport system, and accelerating the completion of the metro network. The city’s strategy also includes optimizing existing infrastructure, such as Nguyen Hue Walking Street, by organizing cultural, artistic, and entertainment events catering to both residents and tourists, thereby enhancing the urban experience.
In line with the vision of a green city, Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism sector is strongly pursuing the development of eco-tourism and sustainable tourism models. Businesses are encouraged to eliminate single-use plastics in tours, progressively creating environmentally friendly and community-conscious tourism products. Preserving and promoting cultural identity is paramount. Each commune and ward aims to create at least one distinctive tourism product, simultaneously preserving heritage while stimulating creative local economies.
Moreover, the city will organize more community festivals and events, encouraging resident participation to build a network of “local tourism ambassadors” – proud citizens who enthusiastically promote Ho Chi Minh City as a friendly, vibrant, and explorable destination. Retaining residents equates to retaining tourists and investors, laying a robust foundation for sustainable tourism growth.
Regional Tourism Development: A Collaborative Approach
Post-merger, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism plans to construct an integrated regional tourism system. Ho Chi Minh City will serve as the central organizer and connector, while the former Binh Duong and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces will function as support regions, leveraging their strengths in eco-tourism and tourism-oriented industries. This multi-faceted approach will not only cater to general sightseeing needs but also enable tourists to experience Ho Chi Minh City’s open, modern urban lifestyle while immersing themselves in the distinctive regional culture. The city’s success in retaining residents translates directly into a thriving tourism industry, firmly establishing Ho Chi Minh City as a global destination of choice for both residents and visitors.
