Da Nang night economy: The "boost" of Da Nang Downtown and the ambition to reach the continent

Despite being a pioneer in investing heavily in developing the night-time economy, Da Nang still seems to lack a worthy "magnet" to attract tourists willing to spend money on night-time entertainment.

There is still no "true night economy "

Since the city's night-time economic development project was issued in 2020, Da Nang has focused on promoting investment in the night-time economy for many years to create a new look and increase its appeal to tourists. A series of night-time tourism destinations, products and services have been invested in and operated, helping to diversify choices, increase the length of stay of visitors and revenue from night-time tourism activities.

Da Nang's night-time economy has not yet developed to its full potential (Illustration: Bach Dang walking street).

Highlights include My An night beach, Da Nang flower street, An Thuong tourist street, Bach Dang walking street, entertainment services at the East Coast park and Nguyen Van Troi pedestrian bridge. Many night markets, art shows, Han River tours, water music shows at 2/9 Square, Dragon Bridge with fire and water spraying... are deployed, attracting a large number of people and tourists to come and have fun.

In particular, the famous tourist area in the Central region, Sun World Ba Na Hills, with its attractive and unique Ba Na By Night product, has created its own mark on tourists.

Ba Na By Night program has made its own mark on tourists.

Despite investment in building many service products, Da Nang's night tourism ecosystem is still not really synchronized, worthy of the potential of one of the largest tourist centers in the country. The city on the Han River still lacks large-scale complexes that provide a series of classy night tourism experiences that are systematically and synchronously designed for tourists.

According to statistics, in the first 9 months of 2025, the average number of overnight stays of visitors to Da Nang was only 1.89 days/trip. This number compared to the potential of a livable city, a regional tourist center like Da Nang is still very "modest".

Besides, although the number of visitors and tourism revenue of Da Nang has increased every year, it has not been able to exploit the large space from entertainment, recreation and night shopping services. Discussing this issue, Associate Professor. Dr. Pham Trung Luong - Member of the National Tourism Advisory Group frankly said: " This is not the first time we have talked about the night economy, but it has been talked about for a long time in major centers such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and even Da Nang. But up to now, we still do not have a true "night economy" because we are lacking a complex that includes at least three types of services. The first is entertainment. The second is cuisine. And the third is shopping. It must combine these three issues, three in one, to be called a night economy. According to the data I have, the current average spending of visitors to Da Nang is only about 80 USD/day, while in Tokyo it is about 200 USD, Singapore about 180 USD, and Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok also about 170 USD. That shows that we have visitors, but visitors do not have much room to spend."

Da Nang Downtown and the expectation of creating a "miracle" like Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

In the early 2000s, Singapore was at risk of losing its position as its Asian tourism market share declined sharply. The bold decision to invest nearly 6 billion USD in Marina Bay Sands (MBS) changed the landscape of the lion island nation. MBS has contributed to shaping a "city that never sleeps" - where tourists can experience everything in just one complex, from resorts, conferences, shopping, cuisine, casinos to world-class shows.

The super project Da Nang Downtown is expected to solve the difficult problem of Da Nang's "night economy".

After only two years of operation, MBS has almost recovered its investment, welcomed more than 500 million visitors and brought in EBITDA of more than 2 billion USD/year, contributing about 1% of the country's GDP. The complex currently employs more than 11,800 direct workers and creates tens of thousands of indirect jobs in the service, trade and tourism operations sectors. From a quiet bay, MBS has now become the most high-end tourism and entertainment center in Asia.

Not only does it have a strong impact on the economy of the Lion Island, MBS also helps increase Singapore's recognition on the world map. The ship-shaped building of MBS has become an image that appears on all Singapore tourism promotional publications.

Returning to Da Nang, the super project Da Nang Downtown (DNDT) worth 80 trillion VND with the highlight being a 69-storey building inspired by the design of Vietnam's traditional "ao dai" is expected to create a miracle not inferior to Singapore's MSB, creating a new symbol, and at the same time helping to solve the difficult problem of Da Nang's "night economy".

The 69-storey building, inspired by the Vietnamese ao dai, promises to create a new symbol for Da Nang.

Located in a central location, only 2.8 km from the international airport, DNDT is planned as a modern "entertainment city", similar to MBS but with its own breath of Da Nang. In addition to the tallest symbolic tower in the Central region, the super project also has a series of high-class items serving resort activities, entertainment, and high-class shopping day and night, with a cultural park - entertainment, a riverside commercial street, a 4,000-seat theater, a light art festival area, luxury apartments, 5-star hotels, class A offices, conference and event areas, observatories...

In particular, with the position of "center of the center" of Da Nang, Da Nang Downtown is also an important link in two key projects of Da Nang, "River of Light" and "Inland Waterway Tourism" worth nearly 10,000 billion of the city, promising to create an international-class tourism ecosystem, bringing diverse new experiences to tourists. "DNDT will be an important piece to help Da Nang form a continental-scale night-time economic model, both promoting tourism growth and enhancing the image and position of the city on the international map." - Standing Vice Chairman of Da Nang People's Committee - Mr. Ho Ky Minh emphasized.

Expressing great expectations for the DNDT super project, Vice President of the Da Nang Tourism Association - Mr. Cao Tri Dung commented that when projects like DNDT come into operation, the city's night tourism picture will be completed. That will create an ecosystem that is lit up 24/7, helping to retain tourists longer, increase spending and gradually affirm Da Nang's position as a leading tourist super city in the region.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/kinh-te-dem-da-nang-cu-hich-da-nang-downtown-va-tham-vong-vuon-tam-chau-luc-10395525.html