Given a fact that cuisine is always considered to be the strength of tourist destinations, the Da Nang tourism industry have been pull out all the stops to turn cuisine into a tourism product, contributing to enriching the destination's product chain, partly meeting the needs and tastes of tourists.

Chefs of several hotels in Da Nang are preparing Quang noodles at a cuisine event organised by the Da Nang Department of Tourism in 2023. Photo: THU HA

Turn Da Nang into the world’s tourism kitchen

Previously, in order to promote local dishes, Da Nang’s tourism industry organised many major events such as the 2019 Da Nang International Food Festival, the Da Nang Food Festival as part of the annual Enjoy Summer festival series of events; the contest ‘Authentic Quang noodles’, and recently the Quang Da Tet Culinary Culture Festival that mainly introduced local dishes such as Quang noodles, ‘banh xeo’ (crispy Vietnamese pancakes), fish ball vermicelli, ‘banh trang cuon thit heo’ (belly pork and vegetables wrapped in soft rice paper).

The above-mentioned efforts have partly promoted the dishes to a large number of domestic and international tourists. However, according to tourism professionals, it is necessary to promote more professionally, forming chains of culinary products so that tourists can enjoy them regularly instead of having to wait until festivals.

Fully aware of this, the Furama Danang Resort recently coordinated with the Da Nang Tourism Association and related units to announce a series of culinary events ‘Vietnamese Culinary Journey’ with many diverse and exciting activities in an effort to promote the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine to domestic and international tourists.

Specifically, under the ‘Vietnamese Culinary Journey 2024’, a food preparation demonstration programme will take place quarterly with the participation of 4 top Vietnamese chefs and a culinary party night to serve tourists.

Themes of the event series highlight Quarter 1 - Spring: Vietnamese Roots - Vietnamese Heritage Artisans; Quarter 2 - Summer: "Da" sea scent - Vietnamese flavour; Quarter 3: Autumn - Alluvial Echo; Quarter 4: Winter: Vietnamese Tet, ‘Furama’ Tet. There is also an Essence Night show with the participation of 12 Vietnamese heritage artisans ‘setting Asian records’.

According to Vice Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association Nguyen Duc Quynh, actually, the city's tourism industry has previously begun the journey to introduce Da Nang cuisine as a tourism product to the public.

In particular, Viet Nam in general exposes itself to the world by publishing books about typical dishes of Vietnamese cuisine or by organszing annual culinary festivals, which integrate cultural Vietnamese stories regions into their dishes. Therefore, through dishes, visitors can enjoy cuisine while gaining a deeper insight into culture. This will help develop tourism in a sustainable way because through food, and tourists will remember Da Nang and its unique characteristics.

“By telling stories about culinary culture through dishes, Da Nang tourism industry will realize the goal of making Da Nang a global tourism kitchen. At that time, the tourist's culinary story is not simply about enjoying delicacies but also understanding more about the the culture and history of the Da Nang.”, Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh said.

Enhance the quality of locally-made dishes

In his perspectives, Vietnamese Culinary Culture researcher Le Tan said that each locality in the Central region has its own unique specialties that tourists can only enjoy when they set foot there. Therefore, organising a series of consecutive events will contribute to honouring the traditional values of cuisine. Integrating cultural values into cuisine will help elevate local dishes, making visitors to Viet Nam enjoy the local dishes.

In addition, there will be the participation of professional, famous domestic chefs who will transform and create Vietnamese dishes to suit the tastes of domestic and foreign tourists so as to bring Vietnamese culinary culture forward further in the international arena, known to more tourists.

As revealed by Ms. Huynh Thi Huong Lan, Deputy Director in charge of the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre, in mid-2023, the city issued a plan to develop cuisine into a unique tourism product in Da Nang in the 2023-2030 period divided into different stages with many contents and activities.

At the same time, the centre is coordinating with businesses, restaurants, hotels, societies and associations to exploit unique culinary tourism programmes of Da Nang.

In the immediate future, focus will be on surveying and building a map of Da Nang cuisine and supporting the training on preparing Vietnamese regions’ signature dishes, organising culinary competitions, launching startups, honouring culinary addresses, standardising food safety throughout the city, encouraging culinary establishments to create check-in points, build stories about the food, and demonstrate food preparation steps in front of their customers. 

“To further promote local cuisine, the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre is focusing on  accelerating cuisine promotion activities on the media channels. Also, the centre will link with businesses to promote the spread of culinary-related information to a large number of customer markets, create new videos about typical dishes of Da Nang such as Quang noodles, ‘banh xeo’ and ‘bun mam’ (rice vermicelli with anchovy fish sauce), inviting famous domestic and international chefs to Da Nang to share their feelings about local dishes.”, Ms. Huong Lan said.

Reporting by THU HA - Translating by A.THU