More than 200 visitors on the flight were warmly welcomed. Three lucky visitors were presented a return ticket for the trip as the city’s gift to the 3 millionth visitor.

At the welcome gate, visitors were presented with flowers and enjoyed Vietnamese traditional dances.

“I’ve been to many countries. This welcome ceremony is very impressive. Vietnam has beautiful landscapes, long coast and warm weather so I decided Vietnam as the destination for my holiday. I’ll surely return here many times,” said Mrs. Nina Fedorova, the 3 first millionth visitor.

This is the first time HCM City holding a welcome ceremony to international tourists.

The city’s Tourism Department deputy director La Quoc Khanh said the ceremony marked the important development of the city’s tourism sector, with a 20 percent growth rate over 2009.

According to Khanh, the number of Russian visitors to Vietnam is rising. Their spending in Vietnam is also very high, which increases from 50-80 percent annually.

The city has also launched a promotional month for tourists from December 15 2010 to January 15 2011.