Reporter Khang Ninh from the DA NANG Newspaper was a participant in the Mekong Innovative Start-up Tourism Hackathon 2016 which took place in the city last month. 

Members of team ‘Building Tourism Community’ visiting Hoi An

The 2-day event was jointly organised by the Da Nang Entrepreneurship Support Company (DNES), the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), the Mekong Business Initiative (MBI), and the Seoul Global Start-up Centre.  The event attracted around 60 contestants from start-up companies, business incubators, and other relevant organisations in Viet Nam, South Korea, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, the USA, and some European countries.

Under the contest’s rules, the contestants were divided into 5 teams, and they were all given an introduction to the tourism industry in Da Nang and Hoi An.  They were then required to develop innovative ideas about how to help these localities promote their tourism events, build their tourism communities, and advertise their tourism images.  Many foreign contestants said that this was the first time that they had visited Da Nang which is dubbed ‘a city of bridges’.  

Ninh joined a team named ‘Building Tourism Community’ which consisted of 4 Vietnamese contestants and 4 foreigners, from Thailand, Laos, South Korea and Indonesia.  

On the first day of the contest, the team’s participants visited Hoi An, and they felt really excited to visit the Phap Bao Pagoda and had the thrilling and interesting experience of taking a trip boat on the Hoai River to visit the ‘Chua Cau’ (Japanese Covered Bridge), the time-honoured symbol of Hoi An.  Also, the participants took leisurely strolls and became particularly engrossed in the local cuisine as they comfortably enjoyed delicious local street dishes, including basic grilled corn and meat. 

The excited contestants visiting Linh Ung Pagoda

On the 2^nd day, Ms Ninh’s team made trips to Da Nang’s Linh Ung Pagoda and along both banks of the Han River.  During their stay in this beautiful seaside city, the Vietnamese contestants enthusiastically introduced their foreign teammates to the popular local attractions.  With their deep pride in their beloved city, they willingly answered all the questions raised by their foreign friends, including ‘How does the Han River Bridge swing open?’ and ‘Why?’.

Ninh said that all the 5 teams were required to identify certain tourism-related matters facing the city, and then give their suggestions for handling them for the sake of the city’s tourism progress.

In the end, the first prize went to team ‘Tourism Advertising’ for their innovation to link the Instagram social network with the recently-introduced mobile application called ‘Danang FantastiCity’ which provides visitors with useful tourist information about the city.

The Chairman of the Da Nang Coordination Council for the Business Start-up Network, Mr Vo Duy Khuong, remarked that, during the 2-day event, there were many innovative ideas about how to help Da Nang effectively promote its tourism.  He pledged that great efforts will be made to bring these start-up ideas to fruition.