Museums in Ho Chi Minh City set to welcome 4 million visitors in 2025

Speaking at the Citywide Cultural Heritage Conference on November 24 at the Ton Duc Thang Museum, Nguyen Minh Nhut, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, noted that visitor numbers to local museums are estimated to reach nearly four million this year.

Among them, international visitors are expected to total about 1.3 million, accounting for one-fifth of all foreign arrivals to the city.

According to Nhut, the growing interest of the public and tourists in museums is a positive and noteworthy trend.

Leveraging strengths to better serve the public

Achieving these results reflects significant efforts by the museum sector in particular and Ho Chi Minh City’s cultural sector in general.

The city currently has 25 museums, including nine managed by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, four under the administration of central ministries and agencies, and 12 privately operated museums.

Nhut shared that between 2021 and 2025, the department supported the establishment of eight out of 12 non-public museums. 

As a result, the number of privately operated museums has tripled compared with a decade ago.

He expressed delight that museums across the city are successfully showcasing their value. 

Of the nine museums under the department’s management, seven have been classified as first-tier and two as second-tier.

Notably, there are only eighteen first-tier museums nationwide, making this achievement particularly encouraging. 

All seven first-tier museums belong to the International Council of Museums (ICOM) system.

Not only public museums, but many privately run museums have also become increasingly dynamic, organizing exhibitions and themed displays to create cultural events, attract visitors, and contribute significantly to the overall development of museum activities in the city.

Creating a distinct identity

Dr. Le Thi Minh Ly, former deputy director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, emphasized that the city is home to museums with nearly a century of history, such as the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History.

She noted that the museum’s origin story itself is a brand -- its unique character was shaped from its earliest collections and the pioneering work of both French and Vietnamese museologists and curators.

Ly raised a key question: with its 100-year history, what should be done now to help this valuable museum develop toward 2030, and what strategic vision should guide its path to 2045?

She argued that the city needs further investment, particularly in research, training, and academic exchange both domestically and internationally.

She also mentioned the Southern Women’s Museum, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts, and two commemorative museums -- namely the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Ton Duc Thang Museum.

Each museum is striving to leverage its internal strengths to attract visitors and meet the public’s need for enjoyment, learning, and exploration.

Delegates at the conference expressed hope that the city’s museums will continue working to avoid duplication, gradually developing distinctive identities and unique characteristics aligned with three orientations: academic, scholarly, and ideological; educational and creative; experiential, recreational, and community-based.

They also highlighted the importance of effective technology integration, enabling museums to tell compelling and meaningful stories about the city’s history and culture.