On July 18, the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street held a preliminary meeting to report on the results of activities in the first 6 months of 2025.
At the same time, this unit also provides some information about the program to celebrate 10 years of book street activities.
Revenue up but book sales down
Reporting at the preliminary review meeting, Mr. Le Hoang, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street Company, said that in the first 6 months of 2025, the total revenue of units at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street reached more than 31.3 billion VND, an increase of 8.63% compared to 2024.
However, the number of books sold only reached about 339,376 copies, a decrease of 945 books (-1.8%) compared to 2024. In particular, the number of newly released titles was only 1,108, a decrease of 803 titles (-42%) compared to 2024.
Revenue from children's books in 2025 will reach more than VND 3.9 billion, down 12.75% compared to VND 4.5 billion in 2024.
Notably, while revenue dropped sharply, the number of children's books sold increased slightly by 480 books (+0.6%), from 72,633 books in 2024 to 73,113 books in 2025.
"The fact that the number of books sold increased but revenue decreased sharply shows that the books sold were mainly in stock or sold at preferential prices, deeply discounted, instead of being new, high-value publications," said Mr. Le Hoang.
The decline in children's book consumption can be due to many reasons such as: fierce competition from modern forms of entertainment and learning such as imported books, applications, videos and digital content; lack of outstanding books, not attractive enough in terms of content, form and interactivity to attract children and parents; changing spending habits, along with economic pressure causing many families to limit book purchases or switch to other forms of reading such as e-books.
"Without radical changes in product development, experience innovation, and improved engagement with young readers, the children's book segment will continue to decline.
This not only reduces revenue but also gradually loses its fundamental role in cultivating a reading culture for future generations - one of the core goals of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street and the development of a reading culture in the community" - Mr. Le Hoang shared.
Create a unique book shopping experience at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street
At the preliminary meeting, publishing units proposed many solutions to improve book business efficiency in the coming time.
The ideas revolve around how to attract readers to the book street in the evening, as well as how to coordinate the organization of the "Happy Learning with Books" program so that more and more groups of students from schools can come to visit and experience.
Mr. Le Hoang said that units need to be more proactive, and at the same time increase investment in introducing new books and monthly best-selling books in prominent, eye-catching display areas.
In addition, it is necessary to build a section introducing 100 books by topic or by quarter to create highlights.
Mr. Hoang also proposed creating unique and different book shopping experiences at the book street, such as organizing rotating mini book fairs with the coordination of units at the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street...
"Each booth should become a 'small island' with interactive events and activities, attracting visitors to stop by, even if their initial purpose is not to buy books," Mr. Hoang shared.
Publishing units such as Tre Publishing House and Phuong Nam Company also expressed their agreement with organizing influential programs in the evenings and on weekends.
One of the specific proposals is to set up a "golden hour" of about one hour every evening for all participating units to jointly implement incentive programs, discounts or book giveaways to increase the attraction and number of visitors to the book street.
Attending the preliminary review session, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoi - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the department's concern is that through this preliminary review session, it will develop an action plan for the last 6 months of the year, thereby summarizing 10 years of operation of the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street.
"This is a very important activity for Ho Chi Minh City in the current period, when the city is expanding and has a lot of green space. The issue of managing and developing green space models is one of the focuses that the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City has set and included in the program and plan for 2025" - Mr. Hoi said.
The Department will also advise on long-term development plans for the Book Street in the next 10 years, and coordinate with the Vietnam Publishing Association and media units to promote and support participating units.
According to Mr. Hoi, from this summary, the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City will propose a policy for the City Party Committee and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City not only for the book street but also for other book spaces in the city, in order to contribute to the development of reading culture.
Source: https://ttbc-hcm.gov.vn/doanh-thu-duong-sach-tp-hcm-dat-hon-31-3-ti-dong-trong-6-thang-dau-2025-1019181.html
Comment (0)