William took flight VN780 by the national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, from Australia to Ho Chi Minh City. 

The Ho Chi Minh City's Tourism Department and the Vietnam Airlines organized a ceremony to welcome their six millionth visitor at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City, on December 15.

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Head of the city's Tourism Department, Bui Ta Hoang Vu welcoming Australian businessman Mitchener D. William. Photo: tuoitre.vn 

Addressing the ceremony, Head of the city's Tourism Department, Bui Ta Hoang Vu affirmed that the event marked a new step and the successful start of the city in developing its tourism, with the growth of more than 1 million international visitors in 2017 compared to last year in 2016. 

In 2018, the city will continue to improve the quality of tourism promotional events, concentrate on completing overall planning on tourism development, facilitate implementation of the Law on Tourism 2017, and promote waterway travel in order to draw more tourists, he added.

This year, international arrivals to the city are estimated at 6.39 million arrivals, an increase of 22.8 percent from 2016, reaching 110 percent of the set plan. Total tourism revenue is approximately at 116 trillion VND, up 12.6 percent over the same period last year and meeting the set plan.

Next year, the city expects to receive from 7.5 million to 8 million international tourists and an estimated of 29 million domestic visitors.

Translated by Song Anh