In 2023, Da Nang tourism is considered one of the fields recording significant recovery and growth. Although the result was not as good as expected, the city's tourism industry has been trying to find new directions with a focus on developing new and unique products to attract more tourists in the future.
Visitors at the Sun World Ba Na Hills tourist area. Photo: Thu Ha
Difficulties and challenges lie ahead
According to the municipal Department of Tourism, the total number of guests served by local accommodation establishments in 2023 was about 7.39 million, 2 times higher than that of last year. Of which, more than 1.98 million were international visitors, over 4.2 times higher than that of 2022, whilst domestic visitors were more than 5.41 million, an increase of 66% compared to 2022.
Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Truong Thi Hong Hanh said that, besides results achieved in 2023 in terms of number of visitors, the city's tourism industry still faced some difficulties.
In particular, some underwater entertainment tourism products have yet to commensurate with their potential. The city was lack of specialised tourist seaports, whilst public toilets and freshwater bathing areas were degraded.
In addition, city-based tourism firms encountered difficulties in terms of capital and land rental fees. The quality of human resources working in hospitality industry is not uniform.
It is forecast that global economy in 2024 will be on the brink of a recession, so travellers tend to cut back on their spending and choose nearby destinations, hindering the resumption and the opening of international flights, and the exploitation of international markets.
Moreover, competition between domestic and international destinations such as Thailand, Bali (Indonesia), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), Sa Pa (Lao Cai), Phu Quoc (Kien Giang) is still fierce with open visa policies and stimulus programmes.
The hospitable tastes of some potential markets are also fluctuating such as China (accounting for 20% in 2019), with no signs of recovery. India, one of the city’s potential tourist market, has difficulty opening direct flights to Da Nang. Meanwhile, the South Korean and Taiwanese markets are showing signs of saturation.
Travellers tend to seek unique vacations, environmentally friendly services, green tourism, community-based tourism and wellness tourism.
Foreign visitors taking a cyclo tour in Da Nang. Photo: Thu Ha
More new tourism products to be added
Faced with that reality, the city's tourism industry needs to exert more efforts to develop more new and unique tourism products in a bid to lure more visitors to the city.
Mrs. Pham Tu Cau, Vice President cum General Director of Sun Group in the central region, assessed that new tourism products are the key to accelerate Da Nang tourism. Therefore, Sun Group always tries to create a highly competitive and quality tourism product ecosystem.
She revealed that, in the coming year, Sun Group will continue to increase new tourism products to serve domestic and international tourists, with the focus on Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF), some festivals throughout the four seasons, regional specialty markets, and Vietnamese cultural spaces.
Mrs. Pham Tu Cau stressed the need for the city to have an investment strategy for DIFF with high-quality facilities such as a square or stage, and large-scale fireworks viewing stands, with the purpose to raise the position of the festival, thereby making Da Nang "the world's new fireworks destination".
Importance should be attached to supporting and encouraging businesses to invest in new, quality products and services to increase the experience for visitors during and after DIFFs, she added.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh, General Director of the Furama resort Da Nang, underlined a must-do for the city to develop quality human resources to promote the sustainable development of the local tourism. The focus should be on developing MICE and wedding tourism to attract more diverse customer markets, he noted.
According to Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Hoai An, in 2024, the city's tourism industry will lay an emphasis on promoting the message "Enjoy Da Nang 2024" with groups of tourism products including nighttime entertainment and shopping; cusine; beach resort; MICE; golf tourism; wedding tourism; festive colors; and affiliated products.
Additionally, attention will be paid to restructuring and expanding the promotion of potential tourist markets; conducting market research; and grasping new tourism trends to have appropriate forms of promotion and advertising for each market and destination product. Heed will be on coordinating with tourism businesses to organise quality tourism stimulation programmes to attract tourists.
At the same time, the local tourism industry will work with airlines and large corporations to promote the restoration of regular international flights and charter flights from China, as well as the opening of air routes between Da Nang and Doha (Qatar), North American and European markets, Indonesia, India, Nagoya and Osaka (Japan), the Philippines, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
Reporting by Thu Ha - Translating by M.Dung