Solutions to promote night economy in Ho Chi Minh City

On the afternoon of March 14, the People's Committee of District 1 (Ho Chi Minh City) coordinated with the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies to organize a seminar on Night-time Economic Management in District 1. Attending the seminar were leaders of the District, representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies; and many businesses in the area.

Night economy - new economic growth driver

Speaking at the opening of the discussion, Vice Chairman of District 1 People's Committee Nguyen Duy An said: Night-time economy refers to all service activities that take place after 6pm the previous night to 6am the next morning, including: Shopping at night markets, 24/7 convenience stores; cuisine, art, music; entertainment programs, festivals, events, tourist attractions that are only open at night. Nowadays, the night-time economy is increasingly being exploited by many countries and is considered a new economic growth driver.

In Vietnam, the Prime Minister has approved the “Nighttime Economic Development Project in Vietnam” with the aim of exploiting the potential of night-time economic development to take advantage of new economic development opportunities, improve people's income and living standards; towards economic growth, job creation, community connection, and social exchange for Vietnamese people. This project also creates a basic legal corridor for localities to implement night-time economic activities, contributing to creating more domestic and international tourist products and services.

As the central district of the City, where economic-commercial-service-cultural activities are highly concentrated, it is extremely necessary to thoroughly research and develop a direction for night-time economic development, in order to promote the district's potential, maximize the socio-economic benefits that the night-time economy brings; at the same time, propose solutions to minimize the negative impacts of the night-time economy.

"From the comments of businesses at the seminar, the District will summarize lessons learned from implementing the night economy in cities around the world; at the same time, provide analysis and assessment of the current status of development and management of the night economy in the district, concretizing Decision 1129/QD-TTg on developing the night economy into specific tasks in the district" - Vice Chairman of District 1 People's Committee Nguyen Duy An emphasized.

Solutions to promote the development of night-time economy

At the Seminar, businesses and delegates gave their views and assessments on the current state of night-time economic development and night-time economic management. Delegates discussed a number of solutions to promote the night-time economy in District 1.

As one of the long-standing units, Mr. Truong Duc Hung, Deputy General Director of Saigon Tourist Corporation, said: Night services are very important to attract domestic and international tourists. Currently, some products are available but according to the assessment, they are not really excellent.

Mr. Hung suggested that District 1 needs to conduct further research on the tourist market in the coming time to promptly grasp the trend to contribute to tourism development. In addition, the tourist market is currently changing, tourists come to Ho Chi Minh City for entertainment and shopping more, so the District needs to discuss and work with commercial centers to connect tourism with shopping, attract tourists to the city and develop tourism, in which it is necessary to call on accommodation units and large commercial centers to deploy preferential packages, exclusively for guests using at night; allow hotels and restaurants to exploit night business of various types of food and beverage at some locations to create a highlight for the night service economy.

Ms. Huynh Thi Doan Thuy, representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Cinema Performance Center, said that one of the core values of Ho Chi Minh City is culture and entertainment. The Center wishes to create an "Art Road" with many types of culture and improvements to reach young people and international tourists. In fact, the Center has tested a number of programs and received great response from domestic and foreign tourists.

Ms. Thuy believes that in order to retain tourists, developing night-time economic activities is very important, but requires proper planning such as food streets to serve the eating and entertainment needs of tourists and locals; investment in renovating old and degraded tourist attractions also needs to be done.

Mr. Tran Quoc Binh, Deputy General Director of Saigon Center Starfish Company shared: "We are concerned about where tourists will go at night after visiting destinations during the day in Ho Chi Minh City. Obviously, in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, besides Nguyen Hue walking street or Bui Vien street, night activities are still limited and have not really developed as expected."

The story is set in the coming time, with the joint efforts of functional sectors, the government, and businesses to create a large, well-planned, synchronous walking space with many industries, gathering major brands in tourism, hotels, travel agencies, etc. to introduce and promote brands and typical tourism products; at the same time, there will also be a separate area with a well-planned plan, promoting street food culture at night, avoiding street vendors creating bad images in the eyes of tourists.

Evidence of the diversity in local culture and art in performing shows for tourists, typically Hoi An has "Hoi An Memories", in Phu Quoc (Kien Giang) there is "Venice Colors Phu Quoc" ... According to Mr. Binh, right in the center of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, there is the City Theater with many strengths to develop the night economy. The question is how to activate and create a festival space, exuding the city's outstanding cultural features.

Mr. Binh suggested that District 1 leaders, Party committees and authorities need to have a specific plan to discuss with businesses, remove difficulties and promote the development of night-time economy in the area.

Representatives of businesses at Bui Vien Walking Street said that currently, there are many visitors coming to the Street to participate in various forms of entertainment. However, in reality, the activities at Bui Vien are still monotonous and lack unique features. Therefore, there needs to be more special performances; at the same time, the District must have specific policies to support businesses to renew the Bui Vien Street system to attract tourists./.

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