In 2025, Ho Chi Minh City recorded the highest visitor volume nationwide, welcoming over 53.5 million arrivals, including approximately 8.5 million international tourists. Yet, a persistent paradox remains. Despite its status as the country's primary entry point, the city largely functions as a transit node rather than a destination where visitors choose to linger. Many travelers stay only briefly before continuing to established coastal destinations such as Vung Tau, Phu Quoc, or Phan Thiet.
Ho Chi Minh City has yet to fully evolve into a tourism ecosystem capable of sustaining extended stays. The limitation is not solely due to the absence of large-scale, destination-defining developments, but also stems from a more fundamental constraint, connectivity infrastructure. For years, the southern region's interprovincial transport network has developed unevenly, resulting in prolonged travel times and overreliance on a limited number of arterial routes.
That landscape, however, is entering a period of inflection.
A new wave of infrastructure investment - arguably the most extensive in the region's history - is being deployed, with Can Gio at its epicenter. The convergence of strategic transport corridors is not only reducing travel friction between economic and tourism centers, but also unlocking the long-overlooked potential of Can Gio, gradually reshaping the broader economic and tourism geography of southern Vietnam.
The city's long-term vision positions Can Gio as a new growth pole, with projected capacity to attract approximately 40 million visitors annually. This ambition contributes to Vietnam's national target of welcoming 30-35 million international tourists and 160-180 million domestic travelers by 2030.
A 40-Million-Visitor Hub and the Transformation of Southern Tourism
Historically, Can Gio has been recognized as the "green lung" of Ho Chi Minh City, home to a vast mangrove ecosystem and a UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve spanning approximately 75,000 hectares. Under a new development vision, the district is gradually repositioning itself as "Saigon's seaside", a large-scale coastal tourism center located just beyond a metropolitan population of over 10 million.
A series of major infrastructure projects is now converging to redefine Can Gio's accessibility. For the first time, the area will benefit from a multi-layered transport network, effectively dismantling the geographic isolation that has persisted for decades.
On the aviation axis, Can Gio will connect directly to Long Thanh International Airport, designed to handle up to 100 million passengers annually, via Rung Sac Road and the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway.
On the urban rail axis, the Ben Thanh - Can Gio metro line, expected to commence operations in Q3 2028, will reduce travel time from the city center to the coast to just 13 minutes, shorter than a typical coffee break, effectively integrating Can Gio into the daily living, working, and leisure radius of both residents and visitors.
On the road network, the Can Gio Bridge, scheduled for completion in 2029, will replace the existing Binh Khanh ferry and establish seamless connectivity with regional expressways, embedding Can Gio into both domestic and international logistics networks.
Meanwhile, the Can Gio - Vung Tau sea-crossing route, targeted for completion in early 2029, will open a new coastal tourism corridor, enabling Can Gio to capture a share of the more than 18 million annual visitors currently traveling to Vung Tau.
Complementing this infrastructure backbone, the emergence of Vinhomes Green Paradise is widely viewed as a catalytic force, one capable of activating a new "southern economic and tourism super-map."
Conceived as an ESG mega-urban development, the project is designed not only to deliver integrated hospitality, entertainment, and lifestyle offerings, but also to function as a central gateway and distribution hub for regional tourist flows.
A True 'Must-play' Destination
Commenting on the Vinhomes Green Paradise project in Can Gio, Mike Gorman, Senior Project Architect at RTJ II Golf Course Architects, remarked: "This is going to be completely unique to Vietnam. It will become something people from around the world travel to experience, a true 'must-play' destination."
Its large-scale, experience-driven ecosystem includes: VinWonders Can Gio, envisioned as one of the region's leading entertainment complexes; two international-standard 18-hole golf courses; a network of 5–6 star hotels and boutique properties totaling nearly 7,000 rooms; the 7-hectare Song Xanh Theater; a five-star Vinmec hospital in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic (USA); and Vin New Horizon, a senior living urban model. This diversified offering enables year-round operations, catering to a wide spectrum of visitor demographics and preferences.
Vinhomes Green Paradise has been conceptualized to align with evolving tourism trends, urban utility integration, and experiential demand, while leveraging Can Gio's ecological assets to create distinctive, place-based experiences for both visitors and residents. Among hundreds of global participant, Vinhomes Green Paradise has been selected as the first official participant in the "7 Wonders of Future Cities" campaign organized by New7Wonders. Jean-Paul de la Fuente, Director of New7Wonders and President of the campaign, described the project as a compelling model for the concept of a future city, where progress is measured by quality of living across generations.
From an investment perspective, the formation of this "southern economic and tourism super-map" signals not only expanded headroom for the tourism sector, but also the influx of capital and the prospect of sustained real estate value appreciation.
For context, Singapore welcomed approximately 16.5 million international visitors in 2025, generating around SGD 29 billion (equivalent to USD 22.6 billion) in tourism revenue. Against this benchmark, Can Gio's target of 40 million annual visitors serves as a foundation for long-term asset value growth, as the area evolves into a leading coastal economic and tourism urban center in Vietnam and the wider region.
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