Monday, May 26, 2025
The “Find Your Vibes” campaign introduced by Ho Chi Minh City is expected to significantly influence the travel industry’s global landscape by setting an example of post-pandemic recovery through innovative, experience-driven marketing. The strategic focus on immersive cultural experiences represents a significant shift from traditional sightseeing approaches toward more personalized, interaction-focused tourism. This campaign could influence international tourism trends by highlighting how meaningful cultural exchanges, local interactions, and authentic storytelling can effectively revitalize tourist interest post-pandemic.
Travel industry stakeholders worldwide are likely to observe this campaign closely, considering its potential success as a model for their promotional strategies. Particularly, destination marketers, tourism boards, travel agencies, and tour operators globally may adopt similar frameworks, emphasizing deeper cultural engagement and experience-based travel. The comprehensive narrative approach Ho Chi Minh City uses provides a replicable blueprint that other destinations can leverage, particularly those emerging from prolonged tourism downturns.
Resources and Engagement Tools for Travel Professionals
The “Find Your Vibes” campaign provides practical tools aimed at travel trade professionals such as travel agents, tour operators, and Destination Management Companies (DMCs). These professionals are encouraged to utilize the campaign’s resources, including the cinematic short film and curated photography collection, for promotional activities, training, itinerary design, and client engagement.
Specifically:
- The film “50 Flashes” offers dynamic visual storytelling, effectively showcasing diverse aspects of Ho Chi Minh City and serving as an attractive promotional asset.
- The photography series by Vietnamese photographer Cao Ky Nhan visually enhances the campaign’s themes, highlighting key landmarks and daily urban life, useful for targeted marketing and thematic storytelling.
Such rich visual assets empower travel industry professionals globally, enhancing their capability to market the city effectively, stimulate interest among potential tourists, and enrich the travel experience through visually compelling narratives.
Symbolic Anniversary Branding
In alignment with the campaign, a special logo commemorating Vietnam’s 50-year reunification anniversary was launched. The logo creatively integrates a stylized heart and 50 landmark motifs, symbolizing vitality, creativity, and peace—core themes of Ho Chi Minh City’s current identity and future aspirations. This logo not only enhances visual recognition but also reinforces the city’s historical context and forward-looking vision to international tourists and global audiences.
For global travelers, this symbolic branding could foster deeper emotional connections, positioning Ho Chi Minh City as a meaningful destination aligned with values of peace, creativity, and vibrant life. Such symbolic elements often play a significant role in destination branding, influencing traveler perceptions and preferences.
Visual Storytelling: Photography by Cao Ky Nhan
Complementing the cinematic short film, a series of high-quality photographs by renowned Vietnamese photographer Cao Ky Nhan supports the campaign’s themes. These images capture crucial elements such as historical landmarks (Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, Tan Dinh Church), iconic cultural locations (Hotel Continental Saigon), culinary experiences, and the vibrant everyday street life in Ho Chi Minh City. Organized under key themes—Tourism, Historical Sites, Spiritual Culture, and Culinary Arts—this collection offers powerful visual narratives, providing travel marketers globally with vivid, engaging, and authentic images for their promotional materials.
The photographic collection serves as a valuable resource for storytelling, enhancing digital and print marketing strategies. It exemplifies how impactful, high-quality visual content can effectively attract international travelers by vividly depicting authentic local experiences.
Cinematic Short Film: “50 Flashes”
At the campaign’s core is the short film “50 Flashes,” which presents an evocative visual experience of Ho Chi Minh City through 50 diverse scenes captured in a stylized, documentary-like format. The film juxtaposes traditional cultural sites such as temples and colonial-era buildings with vibrant modern settings like bustling street markets and energetic nightlife scenes. This multifaceted portrayal emphasizes the city’s unique blend of history, culture, and contemporary life.
Available online, “50 Flashes” can serve as a foundational marketing tool for global trade marketing efforts, training modules, and educational programs targeting international tourism stakeholders. It showcases the city’s broad appeal, helping to shape global perceptions and stimulate international interest.
Strategic Focus on Experience and Renewal
The “Find Your Vibes” campaign strategically positions Ho Chi Minh City as more than just a sightseeing destination; it emphasizes the city as a place to deeply experience through interactions with its diverse communities, unique neighborhoods, and cultural richness. This experiential marketing approach aligns with contemporary travel trends, reflecting post-pandemic travelers’ preference for meaningful, personalized, and immersive cultural encounters.
Travel industry professionals are specifically guided to leverage the campaign’s four primary content pillars—heritage, spirituality, food, and local culture—for itinerary development, thematic promotions, and narrative strategies. By framing the city’s offerings through these pillars, travel professionals can better meet the growing global demand for culturally rich, deeply engaging travel experiences.
Launch and Objectives of the “Find Your Vibes” Campaign
As Vietnam commemorates the 50th anniversary of its reunification, the Department of Tourism in Ho Chi Minh City initiated the global campaign “Find Your Vibes.” The campaign aims to highlight Ho Chi Minh City’s vibrant evolution, energetic urban environment, and identity as a leading destination in Southeast Asia. Specifically, the initiative seeks to drive international tourism recovery, reconnect with global tourism markets, and reinforce Ho Chi Minh City’s global image by presenting it as a destination where historic tradition seamlessly blends with modern innovation and creativity.
The campaign’s overarching goals include:
- Boosting international tourism recovery post-pandemic.
- Strengthening global market connections.
- Showcasing Ho Chi Minh City’s multifaceted identity as a dynamic urban hub with deep cultural resonance.
This forward-looking campaign offers global travelers a compelling invitation to explore Ho Chi Minh City’s rich cultural layers, vibrant urban lifestyle, and innovative spirit, significantly enhancing the city’s international profile and attractiveness as a leading tourist destination.
