Young artists performing in pedestrian streets of Hanoi on the weekend. Photo by Hong Hanh
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Currently, the number of domestic tourists to Hanoi accounts for about 30% of the total visitors in the country. International visitors to the city make up nearly 40% of the country's foreign tourists.
In the last year, Hanoi will strive to attract over 23.39 million tourists, with 4 million international arrivals, with total tourism revenues reaching over VND66 trillion.
In 2016, one of the key measures to facilitate Hanoi’s tourism is the extending of walking streets around Hoan Kiem Lake which was piloted since the beginning of September this year.
The change has created a new space for cultural activities and entertainment for both locals and international visitors to the capital city.
Hanoi’s walking streets are always crowded at weekends. Photo by Hong Hanh
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However, Hanoi’s tourism has been rated as monotonous and lacking in recreational facilities while services have been rated as below par. Therefore, the number of tourists staying in Hanoi is still at a low level, as the city's tourism has not been overly successful in appealing to visitors nor has the city seen many return visitors.
So, the removal of "curfew" provisions in Hanoi after midnight has gained consensus from the public as a measure to facilitate Hanoi’s tourism development.
Not only a colourful space of the arts, the new pedestrian routes also lay a positive impact on the lives of local people. As restaurants and bars will be open until 2am, they have more opportunities to earn additional income, while visitors have more time to visit the Old Quarter and discover Hanoi with no concern about the curfew as before.
According to Director of Hanoi’s Department of Tourism Do Dinh Hong, this is a practical and effective solution to extend the length of stay and increase the average spending of tourists, while promoting tourism product development.
Tourists to Hanoi from Europe or North America that have different time zones with Vietnam will enjoy the extended late night hours, Hong added.
The city’s tourism industry targets to earn over VND110 trillion to VND120 trillion by 2020.
In order to achieve the envisaged goals, Hanoi will focus on building, planning and investing in developing tourism products, while calling on strategic investors to be involved in developing tourism in the West Lake and Red River areas in preparation for establishing an exclusive tourist zone in Dong Anh district.
Hanoi will also collaborate with cities and provinces across the country in developing tourism products, standardise and issue presentations at tourist attractions across the locality, and build a digital map of Hanoi based on geographic information systems (GIS) technology.
Tourism promotion activities will be organised in collaboration with embassies and international organisations in Hanoi with the aims to strengthen connections, advertise and co-operate in tourism development with international markets and vice versa.
In addition to participating in international tourism fairs with a focus on the main markets of France, the UK, Germany, the US, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, as well as ASEAN countries, the city will also build and organise annual domestic events such as the "Memory of Hanoi" programme, the Hanoi Traditional Craft Village Festival, the Ao Dai Festival and the ceremony to welcome the first international tourist to Hanoi.
The "Memory of Hanoi" programme. Photo by Hong Hanh
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