Awakening the heritage
For many years, despite owning a system of unique heritage, culture, cuisine and landscapes, Hue has not yet effectively exploited the night economy. Many tourists have commented that coming to Hue at night "has no place to play, no place to spend money", causing short stays and low travel spending. However, recently, the face of Hue's night tourism is gradually changing as heritage values are starting to be "awakened" by many new experience programs.
Mr. Hoang Viet Trung - Director of the Hue Ancient Citadel Relic Preservation Center - said that after the "Royal Palace Banquet" and "Magic Imperial Palace" programs at Hue Citadel during the end-of-April holiday, from June, the unit will continue to implement a series of new programs to diversify night tourism products.
On Saturday evenings every week, the Phu Noi Vu area will organize a Hue culinary experience and royal cuisine program in the form of a buffet. This space combines introducing craft village products, souvenirs, royal cultural experiences and cultural industrial activities serving tourists.
At the same time, the "Royal Banquet" program will be held periodically at Duyet Thi Duong Theater, recreating the royal banquet space combined with traditional art performances. The Center also accepts to organize performance and banquet programs at the request of delegation guests.
In the third quarter of 2026, cultural and culinary experience activities at night will continue to be maintained regularly. Notably, from September 2026, Hue Citadel is expected to open nightly regularly in many spaces such as Phu Noi Vu, Thieu Phuong Garden, Duyet Thi Duong and Co Ha Garden.
According to Mr. Hoang Viet Trung, building a chain of night experience products not only contributes to promoting Hue's heritage but also aims to increase tourism spending, extend stay time and promote the development of the night economy for the locality. From a destination that was once commented on as "sleeping early", Hue is gradually creating new experience spaces, bringing a more vibrant night heritage to retain tourists.
Diversifying nighttime tourism products
According to the leader of Hue City Department of Tourism, in the development orientation in the coming time, the city identifies exploiting the value of heritage and landscapes on both banks of the Perfume River associated with nighttime economic development as one of the important GRDP growth drivers. Therefore, the formation of unique service - tourism spaces along the Perfume River and Nhu Y River is receiving special attention from the city.
Regarding infrastructure, Hue City People's Committee has assigned relevant units to develop a Project on nighttime economic development, which orients investment in art lighting systems along the Perfume River, Dong Ba area and riverside spaces; combined with landscape embellishment, investment in wharves, technical infrastructure and synchronous public space.
The city also proposed a project to renovate urban technical infrastructure along both banks of the Perfume River, including upgrading Phu Xuan - Thuong Bac park, investing in embankments from Nghinh Luong Dinh bridge to Phu Xuan bridge to form pedestrian space, entertainment and organize cultural and tourist activities at night.
For the Nhu Y River area, the city orients the development of pedestrian streets, food services, entertainment, cultural experiences and electric boats on the river to connect with the Pham Ngu Lao - Chu Van An - Vo Thi Sau pedestrian street space and the Perfume River area.
According to the leader of Hue City Department of Tourism, the city prioritizes the development of nighttime economic products imbued with identity such as Hue Ca on the Perfume River, ao dai performances, court music, street art and community performance programs at night.
In addition, Hue City is also studying piloting the electric boat route on the Huong and Nhu Y rivers to serve tourists visiting the nightscape.
To develop an effective and sustainable night economy, Hue City will strengthen the promotion of the brand "Hue - city of heritage, culture and nightscape" through digital platforms, social networks, cultural events, festivals and linking with travel businesses and accommodation establishments to form a chain of unique night tourism products, extending stays and increasing tourist spending.
