In the bustling heart of Ho Chi Minh City, where the scent of sizzling street food meets the smog of scooters and ambition, something big — and unapologetically bold — is brewing. The 19th edition of ITE HCMC is gearing up to storm the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) from 4–6 September 2025, promising not just another trade show, but a full-blown pageant of sustainable tourism and vibrant experiences.
And make no mistake — this is no sleepy regional fair with a few brochures and a fruit platter. This is Vietnam’s flagship tourism trade event, the crown jewel of the Mekong sub-region, and it’s marching confidently into its next chapter under the banner: “Sustainable Tourism – Vibrant Experiences.”
A Trade Show with Teeth
Forget bland booths and buzzword bingo — ITE HCMC 2025 has teeth, and it’s baring them proudly. Backed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, and pretty much everyone else with a tourism portfolio and a name badge, this year’s expo is tipped to outdo itself.
We’re talking 520-plus exhibitors, 50 provinces and cities, 240 high-level buyers, and over 28,000 attendees elbowing their way through three days of B2B frenzy and visionary chinwags. Add in a projected 12,600 business appointments, and you’ve got a genuine tourism tango — and everyone wants a dance.
If you’re a destination seller or buyer who doesn’t walk out of SECC with a stack of deals and at least one new WhatsApp group, were you even there?
Asia’s Best Trade Show — And Rightfully So
Having just bagged the title of Asia’s Best Trade Show at the World MICE Awards 2024, ITE HCMC isn’t about to rest on its laurels — or its lanyards. This is the only expo in Vietnam with an International Hosted Buyer Program, which in industry speak means serious operators fly in, get wined, dined and business-matched like royalty — and leave with a more profound love for Vietnam and its travel gems than ever before.
The event is expected to attract travel honchos from over 30 countries, with a special spotlight on the Mekong region — Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam are front and centre, strutting their stuff like a tourism catwalk.
More Than a Marketplace — It’s a Movement
There’s a growing maturity about ITE HCMC 2025. Yes, it’s a commercial hub. But it’s also a forum for forward thinkers. This year, there’s a deliberate pivot towards “tourism with a conscience.” We’re talking eco-lodges instead of megahotels, slow travel over speed tourism, and sustainability being more than just a word spray-painted on a press release.
Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, Mr Le Truong Hien Hoa, perhaps put it best:
“With the theme ‘Sustainable Tourism, Vibrant Experience,’ ITE HCMC 2025 is expected to become a benchmark of innovation and transformation for Vietnam’s tourism industry — particularly as we navigate one of the most volatile global travel climates in living memory.”
Too right. In a world still nursing the bruises of COVID, climate crises, and economic speed bumps, this event isn’t just marketing — it’s momentum.
TPO General Assembly: When Cities Talk, Tourism Listens
One of the highlights of this expo gateau is the 12th General Assembly of the Tourism Promotion Organisation for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO), held from 3 to 6 September.
With 131 member cities from 17 countries, the TPO isn’t your average talking shop. It’s a coalition of destinations pulling in the same direction — pushing the envelope on digital transformation, green innovation, and clever tourism policy.
Ho Chi Minh City, proudly one of the founding members and a current Executive Board seat holder, is using this moment to strut its regional leadership credentials — and show the world it’s not just a culinary capital, but a brilliant, strategic tourism titan.
Showstopping Saigon: Experience-First Focus
If there’s one thing Saigon knows how to do, it’s dazzle. This year, beyond the air-conditioned conference centre chaos, a select group of media, buyers, and VIPs will embark on a destination familiarisation program.
Think “Saigon by Senses” — cyclo rides through French-colonial lanes, rooftop cocktail toasts overlooking the Saigon River, and hidden alleys where locals serve up pho so good it should come with a warning label.
This isn’t just sightseeing. It’s storytelling.
Vietnam’s Time to Shine
ITE HCMC 2025 marks a coming-of-age moment for Vietnam’s tourism sector. Once viewed as the slightly scruffy younger sibling to its Southeast Asian neighbours, Vietnam has found its stride — and now, it’s leading the pack with swagger.
It’s not just the rice paddies and lantern-lit streets of Hội An that are turning heads. It’s the country’s ability to speak to what today’s traveller wants — authenticity, sustainability, and something worth posting on Instagram without needing a filter.
From community-based trekking in Sapa to island escapes in Phú Quốc and jungle jaunts in Cát Tiên, Vietnam isn’t just offering holidays. It’s offering meaning.
Final Boarding Call
So, is ITE HCMC 2025 worth booking a flight for? In a word — absolutely. It’s Vietnam’s boldest, greenest, most business-savvy event of the year, and it’s inviting the world to come along for the ride.
If you’re in the business of travel, and you’re not in Ho Chi Minh City this September, you might want to check your calendar — and your career strategy.
ITE HCMC 2025 isn’t just raising the bar. It’s flipping the whole table.
🧭 For more details or to secure your place, visit: www.itehcmc.travel.
