A woman who dares to dream, to act and to be different

Many breakthrough initiatives

Photo caption — Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa at the event welcoming the first international delegation to Ho Chi Minh City after the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: VNA

Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa took on the role of Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism in the context that the whole country is struggling to fight COVID-19. The tourism industry has suffered heavy losses, requiring the leader to be proactive and actively deploy many creative ways to both safely and effectively adapt to the epidemic and prepare for recovery after the epidemic subsides.

When the first “green zone” in the area was announced, the City Tourism Department, the pioneer in reopening, was also the first unit to present a bold but methodical COVID-19 Adaptive Recovery Plan with a 3-phase implementation roadmap that has been proven effective in practice.

Along with the recovery plan, many comprehensive and groundbreaking initiatives have been implemented that not only help the tourism industry recover strongly after COVID-19 but also shape a new position, aiming to become the leading vibrant tourism center in Asia. These efforts span many areas, from developing diverse tourism products, promoting and promoting... to pioneering digital transformation and enhancing international cooperation.

Regarding development cooperation, Ho Chi Minh City has continuously improved the quality of cooperation from the department level to the provincial level, from bilateral cooperation between localities to regional cooperation. In the period of 2021 - 2025, Ho Chi Minh City signed tourism development cooperation agreements with 6 regions, 46 provinces and cities nationwide (before the administrative unit arrangement), creating a breakthrough in promoting diverse resources to promote tourism development.

Regarding the results achieved, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa said that continuous innovation to meet the development needs of practice is one of the valuable traditions of Ho Chi Minh City throughout the journey of formation and development. Promoting that tradition, she, as Director and the collective of the City Department of Tourism, has taken "innovation - creativity" as the motto in most of the industry's activities.

Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Industry has continuously led the country in terms of visitor rate and revenue; for many years it has been honored as "Asia's leading city-level tourism management agency". It is even more proud that the series of events promoting the development of the City's tourism was voted by the City as one of the 50 typical events and activities in the period of April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, this result was achieved thanks to the diversity of programs such as: Each district has a typical product; Each business unit is a friendly destination; Hello Ho Chi Minh city campaign; Welcome to Ho Chi Minh city...

In particular, the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival was initiated in 2023 as a strategic mark of the City Department of Tourism to honor the unique cultural and historical values, effectively exploit the advantages of resources and build the City's tourism brand. After 2 times of organization, the Festival was recognized at the Ho Chi Minh City Creative Awards - First prize in the Economic category and achieved double international achievements with 2 Gold awards at the International Business Awards (IBA) in 2025 in the Arts, Entertainment and Public Festival category and the Cultural Event category. The International Business Awards jury highly appreciated the strategic vision and strong influence of the Festival: “The Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024 stands out as a pioneering model that harmoniously combines heritage, tourism and economic development. Its impressive scale, inspiring storytelling and diverse range of activities have transformed the riverside urban identity of Ho Chi Minh City into a leading cultural and commercial convergence point in the region.”

The driving force behind innovation

Another event bearing the mark of Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa is the Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai Festival, which was launched in 2014 with the desire to preserve and promote the value of traditional costumes and build unique cultural tourism products to introduce to visitors.

Up to now, after 10 years of innovation, the Festival has become a brand event of the City's tourism; contributing to spreading national pride as well as stimulating tourism, promoting related economic sectors such as fashion, trade, services... The Festival is held regularly in March every year in conjunction with the celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, doubling the meaning of honoring, inspiring and giving confidence to women when wearing the Ao Dai. Women are not only more beautiful but also feel a deep connection with their cultural roots; from there, love their homeland and country more.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa said that the driving force behind the above innovative activities comes from the trust and expectations of the people and leaders of Ho Chi Minh City in the ability to break through and contribute to the economy of the tourism industry; at the same time, from the love for the city named after Uncle Ho, a dynamic and affectionate city, always arousing the desire to contribute in each person...

"Personally, I always ask myself what I should do and how to make people more proud of the place where they live, so that the typical products and tourism brand of the City are worthy of the heritage they are inheriting?", Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa confided about the motivation to create and innovate tourism products of the city named after Uncle Ho.

In addition to professional activities, with the belief that giving is forever, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa proactively directed and implemented many volunteer programs for the community during the COVID-19 prevention and control period such as supporting necessities and medical equipment for field hospitals, medical facilities, people in locked-down areas... with a total mobilized budget of more than 41 billion VND; launching the program "100,000 gift vouchers to visit the City for frontline forces against COVID-19" and currently the program "Tourism - Wings of Dreams", "Giving Spring Love"...

“I and the staff of the City Department of Tourism share the same view: Tourism is not only an economic sector but also for human development. All achievements of the sector are directed towards and return to the goal of human development,” Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa emphasized.

From this perspective, the Thieng Lieng community tourism model (Thanh An commune) was born as one of the products of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism industry's passion, a typical and inspiring example of empowering women through tourism. The impact of this model on local women is profound and can be seen in many aspects, not only in the economy but also in affirming their role and position in the family and society through capacity building and skill development to turn them from housewives to female owners.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa believes that Vietnamese women always possess special strength - resilience, kindness and creativity. In the era of international integration, with the support of the whole community and the policies and guidelines of the Party and State, women should always be confident, dare to dream, act and dare to be different. When women are independent and happy, society will certainly become better.

From the perspective of a reporter following the tourism industry, Journalist Hoang Tuyet, Tin Tuc and Dan Toc Newspaper (VNA), who is also a member of the Executive Board of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Reporters Club, said that Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa is the person who supports reporters in accessing and conveying a variety of official information about the city's tourism industry. During her tenure as Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa has always been a "reliable address" and is ready to answer a variety of questions about the development of the industry, helping many reporters have valuable and high-quality information and communication products about the tourism industry.

According to the President of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, Nguyen Thi Khanh, during her time as Director of the City Tourism Department, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa always directed relevant parties to closely coordinate with the Association's activities. Especially in her position as the head of the industry, she not only promoted innovative initiatives but also always listened to opinions and accompanied the business community in developing sustainable tourism. The Vietnam Women's Award 2025 is worthy of her contributions to professional work as well as State management in the tourism industry.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/nguoi-tot-viec-tot/nguoi-phu-nu-dam-uoc-mo-hanh-dong-va-dam-khac-biet-20251017110228573.htm