Why can't the night economy make a breakthrough?

Massive launch of night play products…

"Where to go tonight, go to Phu Quoc VUI-Fest night market", the fun and easy-to-remember song of Vui Phet - VUI-Fest Bazaar, the newly launched night market in Sunset Town, has become a status line that has spread all over social networks in recent days. Each square meter attracts up to 10 international visitors, Phu Quoc's first beachside night market is considered a "Western street" after only a few months of operation. Previously, Phu Quoc night market in Duong Dong town was one of the most famous after-6pm entertainment spots on the pearl island. However, despite being invested in a fairly spacious and methodical scale, Duong Dong night market has not yet escaped the shadow of the night markets commonly seen in other tourist destinations. Tourists only visit, look at goods, eat and drink, and at most return to the hotel to sleep at 10pm. Therefore, VUI-Fest Bazaar brings a new breeze to the form of night entertainment in Phu Quoc. Not only gathering a variety of food stalls from Vietnamese dishes to Asian and European dishes; stalls selling local souvenirs... Vui Phet night market also attracts visitors with unique art performances and entertainment shows from 7-9 pm. After that, "absolutely not letting visitors go home" with brilliant fireworks displays performed every night from the stage of the show Kiss of The Sea - Nu Kiss of the Sea . Thanks to the diverse and attractive activities, since its launch, Vui Phet night market has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors every night. In the first days of opening, the investor recorded more than 20,000 people visiting the market.

Bui Vien Western Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) needs to be lit up later so tourists can spend money.

"The market is one of the projects that we hope can bring life to Phu Quoc, adding another nightlife option for tourists besides the traditional Duong Dong night market. The island's night economy will then be awakened, thanks to a space for local tourism workers to unleash their creativity through a series of street art festivals, shopping, and attractive local culinary culture...", a representative of Sun Group told Thanh Nien .

For its part, Ho Chi Minh City is also determined not to be late in the race to become the "City that never sleeps". Before 2024, Ho Chi Minh City launched its first night tour, taking tourists to explore historical destinations, enjoy art, cuisine, shopping and health care in District 1. For only about 1.6 million VND, visitors will learn about the history of Saigon at the 140-year-old Continental Hotel, enjoy the A O Show art program, have dinner on Dong Khoi Street, visit, shop, have dinner at Ben Thanh Market and then relax at the end of the day at a spa. Along with that, the double-decker bus tourism product with the theme "Sleepless in Saigon" was officially launched, making Ho Chi Minh City the only city in the world to operate a city tour by open-top double-decker bus 24/7. This is a night city tour product from 11pm to 7am the next morning.

Continuing the momentum, Ho Chi Minh City has recently also piloted the opening of Thao Dien night street, operating from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. the following morning every Friday and Saturday night. Thao Dien night street is expected to contribute to the development of culture, tourism and commerce in the city to meet the entertainment and shopping needs of residents and tourists. This is especially the place where many foreigners work, live and study. Districts 7, 1, 3, Phu Nhuan... are also urgently implementing night-time economic development projects in each district, "joining forces" to light up the city at night.

VUI-Fest Bazaar - new attractive night tourism product in Phu Quoc

Not only in major tourist cities, the "heat" of the race to promote the night economy has spread to suburban provinces. Since the Covid-19 epidemic, Son Tay Town (Hanoi City) has continuously launched many products with the goal of strongly promoting tourism, starting with a night walking street. On weekends, the space around Son Tay ancient citadel is bustling with cultural, artistic and sports activities. From 8 pm every Saturday, cultural and artistic activities take place at a high density. The space around the ancient citadel is arranged by the People's Committee of the town with 8 stages for performances, art exhibitions, and sports performances. Young tourists can enjoy sports dance performances, street guitar, hip-hop dance...; guests who love traditional culture have the opportunity to listen to the melodies of hat van, hat quan ho, visit the booth displaying antiques...

In addition, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Lat... People's Committees of localities have taken drastic actions at different levels through decisions and action programs, orienting breakthroughs in the night-time economy to activate the "money printing machine" of the tourism industry.

...but at midnight they ask to "turn off the lights"

Products and services are constantly being born and innovated, but the common point of most of the above "night entertainment" is that they close at midnight. For example, the VUI-Fest night market in Phu Quoc is "full of fun" but only operates from 16 to 24 hours a day. A vendor in the night market said that according to regulations, it must close at 12 midnight, but at some restaurants, customers are still sitting and having fun and are still served. According to current regulations, karaoke and bar - disco services, in soundproof rooms, can operate until 2 am. For mini bars/bars/restaurants with sound located in or near residential areas, the sound must end at 10 pm. As for restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues without sound, there is no limit on opening hours but security and order and other standards are required. "This rule is actually quite restrictive because the guests here are mainly Westerners. They travel without any concept of time. Many times, after watching fireworks, they go out to drink beer, dance, have a late-night snack... But to have fun, there must be music. If the music is turned off, how can we just sit and chat to pass the night or drink in silence?", this merchant shared.

Similarly, Thao Dien night market in Thu Duc city is located right in the miniature Western quarter of Ho Chi Minh city but is only open until 10 pm. Tourists who are not ready to go back to their hotels can take a luxury bus to District 1 to continue spending money in Bui Vien. However, the dance club system in Ho Chi Minh city is currently only open until 2 am the next morning. For those who are "passionate" about dance clubs, especially young people, 10 pm - 11 pm is the time to "dress up", and by 2 am the music has not even started yet and they have to go home.

Bui Vien Western Street is crowded on weekends...

"Last Saturday night, I went to Bui Vien with some friends to have a few beers. I lived in Saigon but it had been several years since I had returned to Bui Vien. It was really different. Shops and restaurants spread tables and chairs out onto the street. Many bars even set up dance floors outside, making it as lively as the walking street in Pattaya, Thailand. Guests from inside and outside were packed, both Western and Vietnamese. While we were having fun, around 1 o'clock, a group of police officers passed by each shop to remind us to clear away the tables and chairs and turn off the music. At that time, the shop we were sitting in still had about 100 customers. Most of the foreign customers were confused, not understanding what was going on. At around 2 o'clock, the barriers at both ends of the street opened, and vehicles rushed in. When the music ended, the party ended, and everyone went home," Tran Hieu (living in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City) recounted his recent experience at the most bustling Western street in Ho Chi Minh City.

Karaoke, which is almost the most popular form of nighttime entertainment, is only allowed to operate until midnight. Meanwhile, movie theaters are constantly threatened with fines if they open after midnight and have been sluggishly proposing for nearly two years to extend the opening hours to 2 a.m. the following morning but have not been approved. However, many movie theaters still open for sale the latest screenings at 11:30 p.m., serving a large number of customers who want to watch movies at night.

...but must clean up soon

Lack of legal framework or lack of breakthrough?

When it comes to the night economy, before discussing what to do and where to go, "relaxing curfew hours" for entertainment services is considered a prerequisite.

In Asia, China is an indispensable example in the development of the night economy. Since around 2010, shopping centers and night commercial streets in major cities of this country have been very busy, but by early 2019, compared to cities in the south and east of China, the capital Beijing still has few shopping and entertainment venues at night, most of which stop operating after 22:00. However, after only a short time, this city has taken the lead in "lighting up" the night economy thanks to many measures such as optimizing public transport services, promoting night restaurants, supporting the extension of business hours... Some famous tourist attractions in Beijing have extended their opening hours by a few hours. Subway lines 1 and 2 on Fridays and Saturdays have extended their running times, with the last train departing after 0:00. Some districts have developed late-night canteens along important subway lines and encouraged convenience stores to operate 24/7… A series of measures have been drastically implemented by the city's leaders to prolong the sleepless hours of both tourists and residents.

Thailand is known as the "party capital" of Asia because there are still many places to go all day and night, but when it comes to attracting more international visitors and "opening their wallets", extending the nighttime entertainment time is still one of the first solutions to be implemented. With just 2 hours of extra time for nighttime entertainment activities, Thailand earned 54.5 billion baht (1.6 billion USD) for tourism activities in December 2023 alone, an increase of 44% over the same period last year. In Pattaya alone, the extension of opening hours helped revenue at bars and entertainment venues increase by 50% at the end of the year.

In Vietnam, in July 2023, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a Project on Some models for developing night tourism products with many solutions, including a proposal to study and consider adjusting regulations on service provision time, allowing the organization of night service activities until 6:00 a.m. the next morning (the current regulation is 2:00 a.m.). In fact, this is not a new breakthrough regulation because the Decision approving the Project on developing the night economy in Vietnam issued by the Government in July 2020 allowed a pilot project to extend the time for organizing night service activities until 6:00 a.m. the next morning at some attractive tourist destinations and areas with favorable conditions for risk management of night service activities in major cities/centers with a large number of tourists such as: Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hoi An, Thua Thien-Hue, Can Tho, Da Lat, Phu Quoc. But until now, no locality has boldly proposed a pilot.

The most important thing is consistency. Even if the time is extended until morning, we must also build a system of products and experiences that are diverse and attractive enough to keep customers coming until morning. Investing in products and then forcing customers to leave early is a waste, but if we let customers play comfortably without a place to play or spend money, the open policy is no longer meaningful.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Trung Luong, former Deputy Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (General Department of Tourism)

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Trung Luong, former Deputy Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (General Department of Tourism), called them "golden rings" that localities do not have enough determination to break through. According to him, the night economy is a component that can be easily turned on immediately, attracting tourists' money to break through tourism and develop the economy. Besides potential advantages such as diverse and rich tourism resources; unique culture, arts and cuisine; relatively pleasant night weather... there are also types of services and entertainment that are already available, do not need to be built new, just need to "open regulations" to be able to promote immediately. For example, if customers want to go to the movies, karaoke, bars, pubs, dance clubs... later, just need to extend the time frame for customers to play more, then naturally "grab" more money. However, despite being given proactive mechanisms, localities are still hesitant... In general, the idea of ​​developing the night-time economy is still "half-hearted", only ending at "midnight".

On the other hand, according to Associate Professor Dr. Pham Trung Luong, extending business and trading hours does not necessarily create a night economy. A night economy model needs to fully meet three components: entertainment, dining and shopping. The night economy complex will include a culinary paradise; an entertainment space that not only has gambling but can also invite artists and world-famous people to organize high-class art shows, applying special effects, technology, etc.; and a shopping area that can sell souvenirs, traditional Vietnamese goods or outlet areas, branded goods, duty-free goods with guaranteed quality and control. The night economy area must be planned separately, far from residential areas so that it can operate bustlingly 24/7 without affecting people's lives. Therefore, the Central Government still needs to open more policies for localities to build entertainment complexes such as casinos, duty-free shopping areas, and tax refund policies for tourists... "The most important thing is consistency. Even if the time is extended until morning, it is necessary to build a system of products and diverse experiences that are attractive enough for customers to stay until morning. Investing in products and then forcing customers to go home early is a waste, but if customers are allowed to play comfortably without a place to play or spend money, the open policy is no longer meaningful," Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Trung Luong emphasized.

In general, the night-time economy still needs a boost of thinking and policies to make a breakthrough, contributing to the overall growth momentum of the economy.

Vietnam is a favorite tourist destination for Chinese tourists in early 2024.

Newly released search data from Agoda shows that the number of searches from China to Vietnam during the recent Lunar New Year has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. Specifically, Chinese tourists interested in traveling to Vietnam in 2024 reached 95% compared to 2020 - the time before travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic were applied. Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Nha Trang, Da Nang and Phu Quoc are the top 5 choices of Chinese tourists, compared to the top 5 in 2020: Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Hanoi, Da Nang and Phan Thiet.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/vi-sao-kinh-te-dem-chua-the-dot-pha-185240228215738255.htm