Visitors to foreign countries such as Thailand, South Korea and Japan are usually treated to a variety of attractive local traditional arts performances whilst they are there.

According to Da Nang’s tourism experts, given the increasing number of visitors to the city, now is the right time for the city to develop its own special arts performances and tourism products to encourage visitors to extend their stay periods here, return again later, and recommend Da Nang to others.

Visitors being introduced to Tuong mask drawing on the sidelines of a Tuong street performance

The Chairman of the city’s Travel Association, Mr Cao Tri Dung, has proposed that nightly musical performances should be organised exclusively for tourists arriving in the city.  He also stressed the need to collect various opinions from local tourism businesses about how to make these performances attractive to visitors and satisfy their entertainment needs.

The Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Tran Chi Cuong, remarked that the tourism sector in the city, and in the country as a whole, is currently facing a severe shortage of regular arts performances, especially night-time entertainments.

In an attempt to deal with this problem, many attractive programmes have been held in the city in order to advertise local arts and cultural values to both domestic and foreign visitors.  The programmes have included periodic street music performances on the Bach Dang riverside promenade, the Tuong (classical drama) street performances taking place every Sunday from mid-July until late September at the eastern end of the Han Bridge, and evening performances at the city’s Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong Theatre on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

However, the city's arts programme for visitors is still small-scale.  Local tourism experts have stressed the need for the city to develop larger-scale arts performances like those in other foreign countries.

Currently, the city’s authorities are appealing for investment in large-scale programmes.  The city is in need of more investment in cultural facilities, in developing talented artistes with attractive show scripts, and for inviting renowned directors with creative vision to organise these programmes.