Currently, tourism service providers in Da Nang are focusing on reviewing their products in a bid to attract even more visitors and encourage them to return to the city again later.

A scene from the 2016 Da Nang Paragliding Open Race themed ‘Flying over the Tien Sa Festival’

Over recent years, there has been a growth in the number of local accommodation establishments.  Most notably, new facilities including swimming pools, gyms, spas and discotheques, have been built in many local 1-3 star hotels in order to satisfy the increasing demand for these services from their customers.

From its launch over 2 months ago, the ‘Charming Da Nang’ arts programme for both locals and visitors has operated daily at 8.00pm at the Labour Culture House on 2 Cach Mang Thang Tam.  Organised by the Sao Hoang Nguyen Company, the event opens with a stage presentation highlighting the city’s most impressive sites, such as the Da Nang International Airport, the Han River and the tall buildings.  It is followed by delightful performances of singing, dancing and traditional Vietnamese musical instruments, each of them showcasing the culture and beauty of Da Nang, and of Viet Nam as a whole.  Interestingly, there is a song named ‘Charming Da Nang’ which was written specifically for this programme.  Tickets, priced at 800,000 VND, can be bought at the House.

The Deputy Director of the company, Mr Hoang Xuan Van, remarked that the size of  the audiences at these performances is lower than expected, and the majority of them are from Asian countries.  They especially like vibrant and modern performances.  His company, therefore, has made suitable adjustments to the programme so that they can reflect the city’s special cultural values whilst still satisfying the visitors’ diverse tastes.

Kayak racing on the Han River

Mr Le Hoang Minh, the Head of the Da Nang Kayak Club and Manager of the city’s Dai Long Hotel, noted that the city is now facing a shortage of its own special tourism products which make the city very different from other localities.   Also, the tourism development potential of the Han River has yet to be fully tapped. 

Therefore, Mr Minh suggested that new boat tours for both locals and visitors should be launched on the Han, Cu De and Co Co rivers.  He also proposed that kayak races should take place on the Han River at weekends, thereby further promoting the river’s brand name.  He also underlined the need for the city authorities to appeal for more domestic and foreign investment inflows into this type of aquatic sport.

Mr Minh also proposed that special heed should be paid to developing beach sports through the establishment of beach sports training centres which offer short courses for locals and visitors on such types of sports as diving, kayaking and windsurfing, and then grant them certificates after finishing their courses.  It is hoped that visitors would feel eager to participate in these courses during their stay in the city, thereby encouraging them to extend their stay periods here.

The Director of the city’s branch of Vietravel, Mr Doan Hai Dang, underlined the importance of developing more night-time entertainment activities along both banks of the Han River, with a focus on regularly organising such arts programmes as street parades of live music and hip-hop dancing, as well as developing a new dedicated special cuisine area for domestic and foreign visitors. 

Fully concurring with Mr Minh’s opinion about developing local beach sports, Mr Dang also highly lauded the organisation of more competitions in kite flying, scuba diving, windsurfing and other beach sports, attracting participants from other central coast localities.  More interestingly, visitors to the city could not only watch such competitions but also register to take part in them.