Thanks to the great efforts of the Da Nang authorities to develop local souvenirs over recent years, the city now has 16 businesses specialising in making souvenirs for sale.  Their products include gemstone paintings, rattan and bamboo handicrafts, Tra My cinnamon items, sand pictures, and stone sculptures.

Souvenir products under the brand name Happy Danang created by the Lunatora company

The majority of these products depict beautiful images of the city by introducing customers to various popular local features and attractions, including the Han and Rong (Dragon) bridges, and the Marble Mountain Tourist Area.

However, to date, the city still lacks its own special tourism product which would represent the local tourism sector.  In attempting to solve this problem, the city authorities have taken various proactive measures to find new tourism products and handicrafts.

In particular, a contest to design and produce new tourism souvenirs is taking place until 15 March.  The intention is to select the most beautiful designs for souvenirs to be offered as gifts to the participants of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in the city in November.  In addition, between 30 and 50 of the most outstanding entries will be selected to receive assistance from the local authorities to diversify their designs and meet the interests of customers.  The awards ceremony is expected to be held in May.

In addition, greater efforts have been made to help local souvenir-making businesses and other involved individuals to import their production equipment, and perfect their products to meet the diversified demands of customers. 

The Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, Ms Nguyen Thi Thuy Mai, remarked “The city authorities have also helped souvenir businesses to design new products, make product demos, and participate in local fairs to introduce their new items.  Importance has also been attached to offering training courses for their employees to enhance their professional skills.  In addition, various preferential policies have been issued to help such businesses expand their production activities, diversify their products, and enhance their designs”.

Ms Mai underlined the need for local souvenir-making businesses to promote even more innovations in their operations to develop their own brand names, and to win the trust of customers, especially domestic and foreign visitors to the city.

Over the past year, souvenirs under the brand name Happy Danang and therefore made by the city-based Japanese Lunatora company have attracted a great deal of attention from visitors from such countries as Japan, South Korea and China. 

Of them, the souvenirs featuring the replica of a cartoon character named ‘Darong’ have become best-sellers.  The design of Darong is based on the image of the beautiful local Rong (Dragon) Bridge which is one of the city’s symbols.

Currently, Happy Danang’s products are available from 10 souvenir shops and coffee venues across the city.  Various products featuring the lovely ‘Darong’ character have been created, including cookies, coasters, postcards, and keychains.  Last year, a total of 4,200 postcards and around 2,500 cookie boxes were sold to domestic and foreign tourists to the city.

Lunatora company’s director Kozaburo Yazawa emphasised that local souvenir businesses should develop a special tourism product which can represent the local tourism sector in order to further advertise the city’s image to domestic and international friends.