Like other Vietnamese localities, Da Nang has been focusing on developing the night economy. This is considered one of the solutions contributing to promoting tourism activities as well as creating new and attractive tourism products for tourists and revenue for local tourism.

Visitors to the Son Tra Night Market. Photo: THU HA

Improving locals' lives

For a long time, the Son Tra Night Market has become a familiar destination for domestic and international tourists when coming to Da Nang. Especially on weekend evenings, tourists often visit the Rong (Dragon) Bridge and then go to the night market to buy souvenirs and local specialties, and enjoy food.

Mr. Andrew Carney, an American tourist, expressed his surprise at the hustling and bustling shopping atmosphere at the Son Tra Night Market. He said there are a lot of products, mainly eye-catching souvenirs and local specialties.

Mrs. Dang Bich Ha, the owner of a souvenir stall at the Son Tra Night Market, said that after COVID-19, Da Nang tourism has been gradually restored. Not only domestic guests, the city has welcomed a large number of international delegations from South Korea, India, Malaysia and English-speaking countries.

Recently, the An Thuong pedestrian street and night market in My An Ward, Ngu Hanh Son District, has been put into operation, bringing new experience to visitors to the city.

Local tourism firms are quite excited about this new product, facilitating locals and visitors to discover nightlife activities with local culture and cuisine.

Ms. Tieu Anh Thu, a representative of the TMS Danang Beach Hotel located on Vo Nguyen Giap Street, said that aside from diverse tourism activities, it is necessary for the city to maintain a beautiful and civilised image in the eyes of tourists at both home and abroad.

She suggested the city control music genres and noise levels in the night market, as well as organise more traditional cultural arts programs to attract more visitors.

Sharing the same opinion, Chairman of the Da Nang Travel Association Nguyen Ngoc Anh acknowledged that Da Nang has a lot of popular shopping spots but lacks large commercial centres for high-spending tourists.

“To create large-scale nighttime entertainment areas, Da Nang needs to issue mechanisms and policies to encourage and support businesses and investors to invest in night economy areas, as well as encourage more local residents to participate in night economic activities.

Da Nang is proactive in creating nightlife products for tourists. IN THE PHOTO: Tourists relax at the Pham Van Dong beach. Photo: T.H

Catching up with trend

Night-time economic is understood as all service activities that take place after 6:00 pm the previous evening until 6:00 am the next day, including: shopping at night markets, 24/24 convenience stores, food, art, music, entertainment programmes, festivals, events, to tourist attractions only open door at night.

Recently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 1894/QD-BVHTTDL dated July 14, 2023 on promulgating the project ‘Some models for developing night tourism products’ to promote advantages of nighttime services to develop night tourism products in Viet Nam with high quality and added value.

Under the project, by 2025, each of localities such as Ha Noi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Hoi An (Quang Nam), Da Lat (Lam Dong), Can Tho, Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria - Vung Tau has at least one model for developing nighttime tourism products, and increases the average length of stay of tourists by at least one night. Also, separate nighttime entertainment complexes will be developed in Ha Noi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

In fact, the Da Nang government has been paying special attention to developing the night economy. In particular, many nighttime economic models have been put into operation such as the Son Tra night market, the Helio night market, the An Thuong night market, and night entertainment activities along the My An beach in Ngu Hanh Son District.

Chairman of the municipal Tourism Association Cao Tri Dung assessed that many nighttime economic activities in the city have been well received by tourists such as pedestrian streets, night markets, nighttime river tours, discos, spas, and coastal nightlife entertainment clusters.

According to Mr. Cao Tri Dung, the city has actively implemented and issued its own projects on tourism development and nighttime economy. The ecosystem of Da Nang is very diverse and rich, and the local business community has been deeply involved in nighttime tourism product chains. The An Thuong pedestrian street and night market model will become a unique product of Da Nang in the near futureif there are more diverse entertainment and shopping activities.

Reporting by THU HA - Translating by M.DUNG