Hoi An promotes new tourist products

Hoi An streets are particularly exciting after the sun sets. Along the scenic Hoai River are stalls selling local souvenirs and handicraft products.

These include colorful lanterns, toy figurines made by Thanh Ha pottery artisans, silk items, and local cuisines like noodles, rice cakes, and sweet soup.

Walking through Hoi An’s narrow alleys at night induces a feeling of profound peace.

Dan Phuong, a visitor from Da Nang city, said she visits the Hoi An night market at the weekend just to mingle in the crowd under the colorful lights, walk along the river, and stop at a stall to sample Hoi An food.

She said, “I’m not sure exactly why it is, but Hoi An inspires me so much that I visit the town quite often. I particularly like the night market where they offer delicious food and cute handicraft souvenirs. It’s very exciting and fun.”

Nguyen Van Son, Vice Chairman of the Hoi An Municipal People’s Committee said that nearly 9,000 visitors come to the Nguyen Hoang market every evening, which makes the area too crowded. Now the Tran Quy Cap night market has opened and expanded to Tieu La street.

Mr Son said, “We have opened a new night market where artists perform Bai Choi folk singing and contemporary romantic songs hoping to reduce the overload at the old night market. Since it opened in early March, it has been attracting crowds of visitors. The business there has been very good. “

Hoi An also offers boat tours that take to the Bay Mau coconut forest in Cam Thanh commune. The forest, part of the Cua Dai mangrove ecological site, is up the Hoai river, 3 km from Hoi An.

Yoon Young Joo, a visitor from the Republic of Korea, said, "Local people are friendly. The air is pure. It’s interesting to sit on a bamboo boat visiting the coconut forest. I love performances featuring the bamboo boats and fish net throwing by the locals. They are like performing artists.”

Most visitors to Bay Mau forest are foreigners. 70% of them are Koreans. The forest receives around 1,500 visitors a day during the week on holidays and special occasions, the number reaches 3,000. 85,000 people visited the site in the first two months of this year.

Nguyen Van Son said, "We plan to recreate a revolutionary base in the Bay Mau coconut forest. The original military tunnels will be rebuilt to enable visitors to explore the base underground. We will also upgrade the pier and guest service facilities.”

Hoi An received approximately 3.5 million visitors last year.