The ‘Da Nang Smile’ campaign was launched by the municipal Department of Tourism last year with a focus on local government employees who are involved in tourism, customs, police, aviation sectors, plus staff at local restaurants and hotels, drivers, tour guides, and local residents.

A seller and her customer at a local shop (Photo: Xuan Son)

It was part of a series of activities in preparation for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week held in the city last November, with an effort to make Da Nang a civilised, friendly and hospitable city.

To date, the campaign has proved its efficiency and gained numerous positive results.  This has been mainly attributed to the great efforts made by the city’s authorities, local residents and tourism-involved staff members.

As part of the campaign, the municipal Department of Industry and Trade has released a total of 1,000 handbooks on civilised trading activities.  The handbooks have been then delivered to traders at markets, shopping centres, and shopping areas across the city.  In addition, a large number of banners to raise public awareness about the campaign have been displayed at such busy markets as Han, Con, Dong Da and Hoa Cuong Wholesale.

In addition, training courses on civilised trading activities have been held for traders at local markets.  Jointly organised by the city’s Markets and Fairs Exhibition Management Company, and the Junior College of Commerce, the courses aim to help traders enhance their sales and interpersonal interaction skills with their customers.  The focus has been on promoting business ethics amongst traders, and encouraging them to ensure environmental sanitation at their markets.

Head of the Management Board of the Han Market, Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, praised traders at her market for ensuring civilised trading activities at the venue. 

In particular, there are no sellers who insist on begging customers to buy their goods at the market.  In addition, all stalls display the prices of their products, and sell them at those displayed prices.  Furthermore, the salespeople are always nice and polite, and they respect their customers and maintain a thoughtful behaviour towards them. 

It is reported that the positive improvements have helped local markets to attract more customers, including domestic and foreign visitors to the city.