In an active response to Resolution No. 43 of the Politburo on building and developing Da Nang by 2030, with a vision to 2045, many fields have made their mark, and become key economic sectors of the city, including the tourism sector. Resolution No. 43 is considered to be the basis and motivation for the Da Nang tourism industry to continue to promote its potential and advantages, gradually affirming the Da Nang destination brand on the domestic and international tourism map. 

Tourists enjoy an art show at the Sun World Ba Na Hills tourist area. Photo: THU HA

Affirm the position of the destination

The resolution sets out a vision that by 2045, Da Nang will become a large, ecological and smart urban area. The city will be a centre of entrepreneurship, innovation and a livable coastal city of the Asian stature, with a policy of prioritising resources, focusing on developing 5 key areas of the city, including tourism and high-quality services associated with resort real estate.

On that basis, the Da Nang government has promulgated the implementation of many tourism development mechanisms and policies in accordance with the orientation such as piloting policies to attract MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences & exhibitions) tourists to Da Nang.

In 2022, the city welcomed 53 MICE delegations with a total of more than 30,000 guests, implemented the Da Nang MICE tourism development project for the 2021 - 2025 period, with a vision to 2030, organised a discussion on Da Nang MICE tourism development (2021); organised many major international events such as the Da Nang International Tourism Fair VITM 2022 and Routes Asia 2022.

Over recent years, many high-end tourist areas, hotels, and resorts have been put into operation, contributing to diversifying the city's service and accommodation system such as Mikazuki Japanese Resorts & Spa, Radisson Hotel Da Nang, Le Sands Oceanfront Da Nang, Gold Plaza Da Nang, Wink Hotel Da Nang Center, Wink Hotel Tran Hung Dao. Work has started on such projects as the Lang Van Integrated Tourism and Entertainment Resort project, the Nam O Ecotourism Area and the BRG Danang Golf Resort hotel complex project.

In the past 10 months alone, more than 20 unique events and festivals have been organised by the city and businesses, creating a vibrant atmosphere, truly an effective product to stimulate demand to attract and serve tourists arriving into Da Nang, thereby affirming the brand ‘Da Nang, Asia's leading festival event destination’.

In particular, the return of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) 2023 has become an impressive highlight in the city's tourism activities after the pandemic. During DIFF 2023, more than 942,000 visitors arrived in Da Nang, an increase of 29% compared to DIFF 2019. The total number of visitors served by accommodation establishments during the 5 peak days of the event alone reached about 321,700.

Along with that, the Enjoy Summer festival has created a stimulus for summer tourism with nearly 782,000 visitors in July 2023, up by 5.3% over the previous month and up by 78.5% over the same period in 2022. The Da Nang Golf Tourism Festival and Asian Development Golf Tournament - BRG Open Golf Championship Da Nang 2023 attract more than 38,000 online spectators. The Da Nang Manulife International Marathon 2023 welcomed 9,000 runners from all over the world.

Recover and grow strong

According to data from the Da Nang Statistics Department, the total number of visitors served by accommodation establishments in the first 10 months of 2023 reached an estimate of nearly 6.4 million, up 96.6% over the same period in 2022. In detail, the number of international visitors increased up by 153.3% over the same period to reach 1.7 million. Domestic visitors reached more than 4.7 million, a rise of 83.5% from the year-ago period.

Accommodation and food service revenue reached VND 19,073 billion, a rise of 36.8% over the same period in 2022, of which VND 8,217 billion was generated by accommodation service revenue, up by 60.6% and VND 10,856 billion was from food service revenue, up 23.1% over the same period in 2022.

For the time being, there are 34 flight routes to Da Nang, including 8 domestic and 26 international routes (15 regular direct and 11 direct charter flights). To date, 1,190 out of the total 1,287 accommodation facility have reopened with a total of more than 42,200 rooms, of which 45% of the total number of rooms meets 4-5 star standards or equivalent. there are more than 4,000 dining establishments and 200 restaurants serving tourists.

According to Director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism Truong Thi Hong Hanh, the above-mentioned results have been mainly attributed to the close leadership and direction of the Da Nang authorities at all levels and the involvement of the entire political system to participate in restoring and developing city tourism. Thanks to that, the Da Nang destination still retains its own appeal and brand on the world tourism map.

The industry's overall goal is to mobilise resources to create a breakthrough in completing the 5-year plan for 2021-2025, completely restore tourism activities, especially the international tourist market, continue to develop sustainable tourism, truly becoming a key economic sector, with a focus on developing tourism and high quality services. In the 2021-2025 period, the city is striving for tourism development targets, with guests served by accommodation establishments increasing up by 25.66%/year.

To realise the goal, in the coming time, the city’s tourism industry will effectively deploy the plan to implement the Da Nang Tourism Development project until 2030, with a vision towards 2045, a night-time economic development and inland waterway tourism development projects in Da Nang. The plan to develop cuisine into a unique tourism product and the key projects and plans for tourism development in districts have been approved by the city’s administration according to the roadmap.

The tourism industry is also looking for breakthrough solutions, boldly implementing a number of pilot activities to reach the above-mentioned target. At the same time, heed will be paid to renewing tourism products, organising large-scale unique festival events to attract visitors as well as further diversifying promotion activities in international markets.

Reporting by THU HA - Translating by A.THU