Travel cannot lack cuisine
Developing culinary tourism is a direction that many localities and businesses have focused on in recent years. Culinary tourism not only enhances the experience for tourists but also stimulates tourists to spend money.
Chloe, a British tourist, said she had been to several Vietnamese restaurants in London and wished to join a street food tour in Vietnam. “Hoi An is the ideal destination for us to explore Vietnamese cuisine through a food tour and try dishes we have never dared to order before,” the female tourist shared.
Not only for foreign tourists, culinary experiences are also attractive to Vietnamese diners. A series of festival events and culinary festivals held in all provinces and cities always attract a large number of people and tourists to participate, proving the appeal of culinary culture. For example, the Hanoi Food Festival in 2024 welcomed nearly 110,000 visitors in 3 days from November 28 to December 1. The 2nd Cho Lon Food Story Festival in 2024 attracted more than 38,000 visitors in 3 days held in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City.
Another trend that cannot be ignored is food tours. In recent years, localities such as Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Lang Son... have all joined the race to attract visitors with culinary tourism by launching culinary maps and food tours.
Most recently, Da Nang made a splash when it became the first locality to introduce a culinary passport to attract tourists to experience dining in the coastal city. Diners can also access a digital culinary map, with just one click they can refer to diverse information about Da Nang specialties and 400 reputable, high-quality dining locations.
The Da Nang culinary digital map also provides information about the Culinary Passport and how to redeem vouchers; recipes for local dishes; regularly updated incentives and promotions; other unique experiences such as food tours, cooking classes, etc.
Mr. Cao Tri Dung - Chairman of Da Nang Tourism Association - commented that the food tour program and culinary map help Da Nang exploit cultural values, increasing its attraction in the tourism ecosystem.
“The culinary map and passport help tourists easily explore Da Nang cuisine, diversify tourism products and extend the festival chain, attracting many businesses to participate,” Mr. Dung shared with Lao Dong.
Building Vietnamese culinary culture brand
Cuisine is always the content that the Vietnamese tourism industry focuses on introducing in Vietnam tourism promotion programs, Vietnam Culture - Tourism Day events abroad, etc. Communication and promotion of culinary tourism is promoted on digital platforms such as websites and social networks.
According to Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh, culinary tourism is one of the typical product types that need to be focused on developing, contributing to enhancing the competitive advantage and brand of Vietnamese tourism.
In the Vietnam tourism development strategy to 2030 approved by the Prime Minister, there is an orientation to develop tourism products, especially cultural tourism products. This strategy emphasizes the preservation and promotion of the value of cultural, historical and traditional heritages of the nation. At the same time, it focuses on exploiting the strengths of diverse and unique cuisine from regions, in order to create unique tourism products... Vietnamese cuisine is internationally recognized, with the title of Asia's best culinary destination in 2022 (WTA) and the world's leading in 2023 (Travel & Leisure), affirming its important role in attracting tourists.
