Two streets lined with shops offering breakfast and fashion items are set to open in Da Nang on New Year’s Eve as part of local authorities’ attempt to draw more tourists celebrating the new year and boost the city’s economic growth.

The two streets, Le Duan and Huynh Thuc Khang in Hai Chau District, will be open on Wednesday next week, the Communist Party of Viet Nam Online Newspaper reported on Sunday.

This is the first time that such a plan to establish streets specializing in certain products and services has ever been implemented in Da Nang, the hub of central Viet Nam.

Le Duan Street will boast fashion shops while Huynh Thuc Khang Street will be lined with shops dedicated to delectable breakfast dishes.

Le Duan Street

The 1.1-kilometer Le Duan fashion street section, which spans from the intersection with Ong Ich Khiem Street to Tran Phu Street, is estimated to cost around VND26 billion (US$1.22 million.)

The funding comes from the city and the district budget as well as funds mobilized from society, the online newspaper quoted the local People’s Committee as saying.

Modifications to the streets and sidewalks are nearing completion, including a new sidewalk covered with “terrazzo” – a mosaic covering – improved illumination and decorative street lighting systems, and installation of public-use items such as benches, instruction signs, and garbage bins.

A survey launched by the Hai Chau District People’s Committee revealed the section boasts nearly 100 households selling fashion items, including clothes, footwear, and bags.

Meanwhile, Huynh Thuc Khang Street is currently home to 40 local shops which mostly offer breakfast, as well as five other businesses which have been moved from other locations.

The shops offer a wide assortment of breakfast dishes, including the central region’s hallmark delicacies of “mi Quang” (noodles prepared the way cooks in neighboring Quang Nam Province do) and “cao lau” (a soup made with noodles, pork, and greens).

The street section will be developed into a cuisine street which will welcome visitors all day and night in the near future.

Most households have been offered loans of some VND10 million ($470,677) each to make repairs to their shops and receive training in hygiene and friendly service.

The launch of the two streets is meant to boost the city’s economic growth and improve social welfare and urban order, the online newspaper cited Dang Viet Dung, secretary of the district’s Party Committee, as saying.

The local government and relevant agencies will work with tour operators to bring tourists to the two streets to shop and enjoy breakfast, he added.

The district will also call for the city’s aid in developing streets dedicated to other products and services, such as electronics, souvenirs, books, and medicines and turning Bach Dang and Le Duan Streets into a cultural-festive axis, Dung noted.

According to the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the number of tourist visits to the city during Christmas and New Year is expected to reach 105,503, a 32 percent year-on-year increase.
Among them, international tourists are projected to reach 59,808, up 30.1 percent compared to the same period last year.