Besides the advantage of marine economic development and highly inviting attractions, cuisine is also a good choice to attract tourists. Da Nang has many local dishes with flavours imbued with regional  charasterisics that have become familiar to tourists near and far.

Da Nang organises many activities to introduce and promote Da Nang cuisine to visitors. Visitors are pictured experiencing traditional craft village activities at the Da Nang Summer Enjoyment Festival. Photo: T.H

For a long time, tourists to Da Nang have been eager to enjoy rustic dishes such as ‘banh xeo’ (crispy Vietnamese pancakes), Quang noodles, fish vermicelli, ‘banh chung’ (square glutinous rice cakes) and Nam O fish salad.

Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Linh, a tourist from the capital city of Ha Noi, said that almost every year her family goes to Da Nang for travel and relaxation and they are very interested in local cuisine. During their trip to Da Nang, her family spends time enjoying seafood and typical dishes of Da Nang.

“The seafood here is fresh and delicious; the snacks are varied and plentiful; the prices are reasonable. If you don't like big restaurants, we can find small eateries or in traditional markets such as Con Market and the night markets of Son Tra and Hellio to experience signature food. Despite being small, eateries very crowded with customers due to its yummy food and then highly recommended for others who have yet to come.”, Linh said.

As a Da Nang-born native, Mai Quang Khanh, the owner of the Tiktok channel ‘Khanh Da Nang’, with about 86,000 followers, holds a special passion for food. Therefore, he cherishes the desire to introduce local dishes to many domestic and international tourists and spends a lot of time building his own channel to promote Da Nang’s typical dishes and seafood.

In each of those videos, Mr. Khanh tells stories about the land, people, and the origin of the dish so that viewers can grasp a deeper insight into the local cuisine. Accordingly, Da Nang cuisine is very simple, diverse and rich when there are all kinds of sour, spicy, salty and sweet flavors, so it is suitable for all visitors.

Deputy Director of Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre Huynh Thi Huong Lan acknowledged that diverse and rich cuisine is one of the advantages of the destination. Therefore, the city's tourism industry regularly has programmes to promote cuisine to domestic and international tourists such as inviting celebrities and KOLs to introduce local dishes.

Over the years, the city's tourism industry has organised many great activities and events to enhance the cuisine of Da Nang, and Viet Nam as a whole, such as the Da Nang International Food Festival 2019 (DNIFF 2019) with the participation of famous chefs from many countries around the world.

Every year, big events that are held at the East Sea Park and the Asian Park also integrate with activities to introduce local cuisine for visitors to experience local specialities on the spot.

In particular, the first ‘Satiate yearning for food’ festival, held for the first time, gathered more than 100 diverse dishes. The format has helped promote and honour local cuisines across the country.

According to Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism Tan Van Vuong, to further promote Da Nang cuisine and tourism, from July 28 to August 1, in the series of activities of the ‘Wow Da Nang 2023’ Summer Enjoyment Festival, will feature the Viet Nam International Food Festival with the participation of more than 50 stalls of local, regional and international cuisines.

Here, visitors have the opportunity to enjoy many famous dishes such as Quang noodles, ‘banh xeo’ (crispy Vietnamese pancakes), ‘pho’ (a noodle dish served with hot broth cooked from beef or chicken.) ‘che’ (Vietnamese sweet soup) and street noshes and drinks in combination with sightseeing, shopping for souvenirs, agricultural products, food at the display and sale of OCOP products.

In addition, the space to experience making folk cakes by hand and the space of traditional craft villages will help visitors better understand the origin and processing of dishes of local people.

Besides, to diversify and form a system of culinary tourism products, at the same time developing culinary products as new and unique products to attract domestic and international tourists, the Da Nang People's Committee issued a plan on developing cuisine into a unique tourism product in the city from 2023 till 2030 with the aim of creating new products and services that make Da Nang stand out from other cities and provinces, thereby stimulating visitor spending and attracting more tourist source markets.

With the advantage of a diverse and rich system of business and service establishments, Da Nang orients to develop culinary tourism products in 3 groups, namely local, regional and international cuisine.

Each group is divided into 3 segments, including high-end culinary tourism products; mid-range culinary tourism products; street food tourism products associated with traditional values.

By 2030 Da Nang will turn itself into the centre of international culinary tourism with special and high quality of Viet Nam, and the region in particular and the convergence of traditional local, national and international cuisines is highlighted.

Reporting by THU HA - Translating by A.THU