Over recent years, Da Nang has seen a growing number of tourism startup projects developed by local young people.

A foreign visitor (left) weaving sedge mats with a local resident in Hoa Vang District’s Cam Ne Village (Photo courtesy of the Management Board of ‘Cultures Connect’ project)

The ‘Danang Free Tour Hometown’ club, which was founded by Tran Dinh Quoc Khanh and Truong Cong Tuoc from Tourism Department of the Duy Tan University (DTU) in 2015, is a typical example.

The club’s members are local university students who are willing to act as free-of-charge volunteer tour guides for foreign visitors in order to enhance their English skills.

He remarked “Numerous training courses have been provided for my club’s members to help them develop their interpersonal interaction skills.  This has created a premise for the club to develop it into a startup project in the near future”.

Developed by Nguyen Minh Loi from Hoa Vang District, a graduate from the  University of Economics, the ‘Danang Free Walking Tour’ is another startup project.

The meaningful project comprises two 90-minute-long major journeys, namely ‘Da Nang Around You’ running from 10.00am to 11.30am, and ‘City of Love’ from 3.00pm and 4.30pm daily.

Moreover, initiated by Ms Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, who is the former lecturer at DTU’s Tourism Department, the ‘Cultures Connect’ project offers tours connecting visitors and locals through their involvement in exciting and meaningful cultural activities in the locality.  The intention is to help visitors explore the charming beauty of the land and the people of Viet Nam. 

Especially, a US visitor, Mr Brian Beeler has poured his money into Ms Lan’s project to help bring it to fruition.

Recent years have also seen a significant increase in the number of IT startup projects to promote IT application in tourism.

Amongst them is a social network named ‘Liberzy’ which is developed by 30-year-old Truong Duc Thang.  Liberzy offers travel lovers smart tools to help them create and share their own travel schedules and maps.  It operates under a social network, allowing users to access via its website or its mobile phone application.

Nguyen Van Chuong is a 34-year-old software engineer from Da Nang, who has transformed his love for his home into an application to help tourists navigate the city.

Initially, Chuong developed ‘inDanang’ and ‘inHoian’ applications, which provide free information for both travellers and locals.  His work helps travellers search for information and updates on destinations, maps, and upcoming events in Da Nang and Hoi An without the need for an Internet connection.

In addtion, another his application entitled ‘inVietnam’ offers necessary information for visitors to 63 cities and provinces from across Viet Nam.  Most notably, it can operate via internet or mobile phone, and allows users to book restaurants and hotels for their trips.