On Bui Vien pedestrian street in HCM City’s District 1. (Photo: VNA)The city hasa relatively more bustling night life compared to other cities and provinces inVietnam, with high demand for night time activities from both locals andtourists.
Matt Ryan,co-founder of the Indika Saigon bar in District 1, told Vietnam News that the city has a greatdeal of night life, with many places for customers to spend time in.
“Since theCOVID-19 lockdowns, at first we were seeing earlier dining patterns and peopleheading home earlier. These days it seems like things are back to where theywere pre-COVID-19 with people staying well past 10pm. We just had one of ourbusiest months in a long time.”
However,Nguyen Van My, Chairman of Lua Viet Tourism Co Ltd, said that the citydoes not have a wide variety of night time activities. Most tourists just eatand drink beer at night, because their options are limited, unlike in otherplaces where the night time economy thrives.
“For example,Taiwan has hundreds of night markets, and tourists visit different nightmarkets every night since they are all unique. While HCM City is a populartourist attraction, there is no ‘proper night market’ here, only a few foodmarkets.”
Vendors atnight markets only function until 11:00pm, even though they are allowed toremain open until 6am the next day.
Thesemarkets currently serve mostly domestic customers and only a minimal number offoreign tourists.
Nguyen ThiLan, owner of a stall in District 4’s Xom Chieu Food Market, told The Doanh Nhan Saigon Newspaper thatbefore COVID-19, her stall served dozen of foreign customers every night, butthere were very few foreigners to be seen now.
Once popularnight-time places like the underground Central Market in District 1 were alsoseeing fewer customers after the pandemic, with many kiosks standing abandoned.
Truong HoangPhuong, a member of the product research board under the HCM City TourismAssociation, said that HCM City needs to create more unique night-timeactivities to encourage spending, including leisure facilities where touristscan hang out all night.
Severaleconomists have noted that night time activities usually account for asignificant proportion of tourism spending, so they should be encouraged bysetting up special zones to foster the night economy with proper investment andlong term plans.
They havealso called for more relaxed policies to encourage growth of the night timeeconomy.
Tran QuangThang, Rector of the HCM City Institute of Economic and Management, said thatnight markets can be a valuable opportunity to promote high quality Vietnamesegoods. They have to be clean, eye-catching and reasonably priced, he said.
“Furthermore,local authorities should support night-time vendors with favourable policiesand help them overcome problems.”
Nguyen NgocAn, Deputy General Director of Fiditour – Vietluxtour Tourism Company, saidnight markets were crucial for enticing tourists to stay longer and spend more.There is a lot of demand for night tourism, he added.
“Many othercountries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have been developing greatnight tourism products that many Vietnamese tourists enjoy. We can learn fromthem and develop our own regional night time economy models.”
At a Marchconference on HCM City’s post-COVID economic recovery, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao,head of the tourism resource planning and development sub-department, saidimproving its night time economy was among the city’s key strategies to developtourism.
“TheDepartment of Tourism has worked with districts to plan night time economyactivity projects, such as District 11 having a night food market and its DamSen Park organising more night time leisure activities along the Tan HoaCanal.”
Other citiesand provinces were also struggling with making optimum use of the potentiallylucrative night time economy, with many services closing after 10:00pm,industry insiders have noted.
For example,Can Tho city lacks night time activities, and many tourists only spend a daythere before going somewhere else for the evening, according to its Departmentof Culture, Sport and Tourism.
The centralprovince of Quang Nam, famous for its stunning cave systems, is yet to make useof night-time tourism potential, with local regulations on opening times andsocial order not facilitating businesses like bars and night markets./.
VNA
