Impressions
Good news for Da Nang immediately after the Resolution was issued is that this city has just risen to 6th place in the list of Asian cities with the highest rate of tourist returns in the first half of 2026.
According to booking data on the online travel platform Agoda in the first 6 months of 2026, Da Nang is the destination with the highest return rate in Vietnam and ranks 6th in the ranking of Asian cities. Compared to 2025, the city has increased two places.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu - General Director of Vitamin Tour & Event - said that Da Nang's competitive advantage lies in the fact that the city converges many products in the same destination, from sea resorts, heritage tourism, entertainment, cuisine to golf and MICE. Products are connected in a short travel time, while the cost is considered reasonable compared to many destinations in the region.
With this structure, a first trip can hardly cover all the experiences that Da Nang and the surrounding area bring. Visitors can return to explore a different product, choose a different season, or combine Da Nang with a new journey.
Chairman of Da Nang Tourism Association Cao Tri Dung said that the city has advantages in location, infrastructure and regional connectivity. The international airport is located near the center, a multi-sector hotel and resort system, coastal roads, conference centers, restaurants and tourism services are developing synchronously, making the journey of international visitors more convenient.
Meanwhile, Hanoi is taking advantage of its strength in linking tourism with heritage. The event that is currently of interest is the Thang Long - Hanoi Festival 2026 which will open on the evening of September 11th at Thang Long Imperial Citadel.
The program combines traditional art with modern technology, exploiting the heritage space of the Capital to tell stories about Hanoi in a new artistic language. According to general director Pham Hoang Giang, the team's goal is not only to create an opening night but also to guide the Festival to become a complete cultural and tourism product, connecting heritage spaces, relics, pedestrian streets, craft villages and creative spaces of the Capital.
With the theme "Heritage Flow", Thang Long - Hanoi Festival 2026 wants to send a message: Heritage only truly lives when it continues to be sung, recounted, created and received, preserved and continued by today's generation.
As for Ho Chi Minh City, many plans have been put forward to welcome the year-end tourist wave with a series of large-scale events. The attractiveness of Ho Chi Minh City tourism is clearly affirmed through the impressive figures recently. The 20th Ho Chi Minh City International Travel Mart 2026 (ITE HCMC 2026) recorded 47,960 visitors and more than 21,000 successful B2B trade appointments, continuing to consolidate its position as the leading tourism trade event in the region.
The 6th Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Week is scheduled to be held in December 2026 with the theme "Vibrant Festival Season - Vibrant Ho Chi Minh City Fest" will focus on introducing a new tourism product ecosystem, and at the same time, expanding in-depth experience activities to wards, communes, and special zones throughout the area.
Representatives of Vietluxtour Travel said that the unit is shaping autumn-winter and MICE product lines in a moderate direction - deep experience, not chasing after the number of destinations or competing with low prices to aim for sustainable growth.
Creating sustainable growth
From the above foundations, it shows that Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang are creating attraction from their own businesses. In which, Hanoi links tourism with culture, heritage, cuisine and creativity; Ho Chi Minh City promotes urban strengths, trade, MICE, entertainment and night economy, while Da Nang consolidates its role as a tourist center and passenger transit center of the Central region.
However, according to many experts, for all three tourist centers to play a leading role, the requirement is to develop sustainably, especially to increase the experience and spending for tourists.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Hoan - General Director of Flamingo Redtours - taking Hanoi as an example, the business believes that it is necessary to develop products to extend the length of stay from one day to two or three days, even inter-regional connections for a longer journey. Existing values such as cuisine, culture, art, shopping, and health care need to be transformed into experiences that can attract spending.
Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang are identified as 3 growth poles, playing a leading role in attracting tourists, connecting traffic and coordinating visitor flows; localities need to promote their own advantages, avoid developing duplicate products" - Mr. Quynh said.
Another issue that these 3 tourism growth poles need to pay attention to is not only increasing the number of visitors for the locality but also playing the role of "leader", meaning leading neighboring tourist areas to develop together.
According to experts, these poles must play a role in both breadth and depth, meaning they are strong enough to position the brand internationally, and at the same time support the surrounding satellite destination system. A growth pole is both a magnet to attract tourists and a transit point for the entire region. When that task is ensured, tourism growth poles will promote the role that Resolution 26 has set out.
