“Filling” the beach space with events, cultural activities or tourism products is an effective direction for Da Nang to maximise the great potential of the sea as well as build the brand of “the city of events and festivals”.

‘Enjoy Da Nang Festival 2024’ is a prominent event on Da Nang’s tourist beach space. Photo: XUAN SON

Valuable beach space

Coming to Da Nang for a summer vacation, Ms. Mai Thi Mai Huong and her husband from the capital city of Ha Noi visited the Son Tra Peninsula, My Khe Beach, the Marble Mountains scenic spot, enjoyed seafood, watched the Rong (Dragon) Bridge breathe fire and watched the show ‘Symphony of River” at the Da Nang Downtown.

Here, the young married couple spent most of their time experiencing the services on the beach, especially immersing themselves in the festival atmosphere ‘Viet Nam - South Korea Festival 2004 in Da Nang at the Bien Dong Park.

She said that this was not the first time her family had come to Da Nang, but she still chose to return to this city every summer because she liked the excitement of the city and bustling activities and tourism events along the bioth banks of the Han River and the beautiful coast off the city.

Cultural and tourism events and festivals along My Khe Beach, which started at the beginning of summer, have shown no signs of cooling down. For example, after the Viet Nam - South Korea 2024 Festival ended, visitors continued to enjoy the ‘Drone Show’ performance at the Bien Dong Park. Here, a dynamic Da Nang was subtly recreated through a series of drones.

This impressive performance followed the success of such interesting event as ‘Enjoy Da Nang 2024’ festival, the Brazil - Viet Nam Football Festival 2024, Vinfast Iron Man 70.3 Viet Nam, Da Nang International Marathon 2024, “Da Nang Flower Street 2024” or My Tam’s live show “My Soul 1981”.

According to Mr. Phan Minh Hai, the Deputy Head of the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang tourist beaches, in addition to ensuring security, order and safety of tourists, this agency has focused on upgrading services, events and tourism activities, and in particular, organising many cultural, sports and tourism events to create interesting travel experiences for tourists along Da Nang’s beaches, thereby promoting the brand “the city of events and festivals”.

According to Mr. Hai, alongside the beautiful Hoang Sa - Vo Nguyen Giap - Truong Sa route running along the beaches in Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son districts, the Nguyen Tat Thanh coastal route, which is more than 15km long, also hugs the strait through Hai Chau, Thanh Khe and Lien Chieu districts.

In recent years, in an effort to attract tourists, localities, many businesses and the Son Tra Peninsula Management Board and Da Nang tourist beaches have joined hands to build Ha Khe marine park in Thanh Khe District, Nam O eco-tourism area, Da Nang Mikazuki Resorts and Spa complex or the square combined with parking at the end of Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, Nguyen An Ninh Street in Lien Chieu District.

In the first 7 months of 2024, tourism activities continued to develop strongly with highly inviting events impressing both local residents and tourists. Thanks to this, the city welcomed more than 6.6 million visitors, an increase of 33% over the same period in 2023, and recorded over VND 4,343 billion worth of revenue , up by 57.6% over the same period last year.

Maximising great beach tourism potential

From the perspective of a service provider, Mr. Pham Anh Viet, the manager of Son Tra District-located Man Thai Beach - ‘Cho Ca Go’ (Wooden Fish Market) complex) commented: “The beaches in Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son districts have been exploited and developed quite well, especially over the past three years.

The attention of the city leaders, the local tourism industry and the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang tourist beaches has breathed new life into beaches, creating positive changes after COVID-19.

Man Thai Beach is a public beach but operates according to a multi-functional complex model. Besides the traditional functions of parking and fresh water bathing, Man Thai Beach also has new beach leisure services such as refreshment trading and relaxation on the beach around the clock.

The highlight is ‘Cho Ca Go’ (Wooden Fish Market) site, exactly near the Truong Dinh - Hoang Sa intersection, Son Tra District, featuring unique architecture is really worth a visit for check-in fans who are keen on looking for an ideal spot to take Instagram/Facebook-worthy photos. Visiting ‘Cho Ca Go’, you can comfortably sit in eye-catching colourful lazy chairs, immerse yourself in nature, breath the cool breeze from the sea, listening to relaxing whispering sea sounds and take cool sips of fresh coconut water, tasty coffee or delicious fruit juices and tea.

The Lien Chieu district authorities have put into operation products under the Nam O community tourism project and continue to support investors to complete the Lang Van integrated resort and entertainment project. It is expected that once the project is completed, visitors to Lien Chieu District will be able to experience watching the sunrise and sunset from basket boats on Nam O Bay, as well as go swimming, gain a deeper insight into relics, the history of traditional craft villages, enjoy cuisine and take Stand-up paddle boardings (SUPs) activities in the poetic sea space at the foot of the Hai Van Pass.

When it comes to the story of “filling” the sea space, Mr. Pham Anh Viet underlined a need to consider improving infrastructure such as walkways, lighting systems, public toilets, parking areas and ensuring amenities such as lightweight and wind-resistant beach umbrella systems and bathing services. Along with that, it is necessary to focus on protecting the environment and innovating types of activities to enrich travel experience for tourists. 

Over the past times, the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang tourist beaches has taken the initiative to organise such activities as outdoor film screenings, physical therapy on the beach and outdoor musicical programmes at My An Beach.

“We are currently developing a project to develop types of services in the coastal area along Vo Nguyen Giap and Nguyen Tat Thanh streets. After being approved by the municipal government, we will implement appropriate models to make current beaches more highly inviting with a series of interesting activities”, Mr. Phan Minh Hai emphasised.

Reporting by XUAN SON - Translating by A.THU