Out and about: Customers at a cafe along the Saigon River in District 2 in Ho Chi Minh City. The city has a relatively more bustling night life compared to other cities and provinces in Vietnam. — Bloomberg
Ho Chi Minh City is yet to tap the full potential of the night-time economy despite evidence from other countries that it encourages higher spending by tourists, experts say.
The city has a relatively more bustling night life compared to other cities and provinces in Vietnam, with high demand for night-time activities from both locals and tourists.
Matt Ryan, co-founder of the Indika Saigon bar in District 1, said the city has a great deal of night life, with many places for customers to spend time in.
“Since the Covid-19 lockdowns, at first we were seeing earlier dining patterns and people heading home earlier.
“These days, it seems like things are back to where they were pre-Covid with people staying well past 10pm. We just had one of our busiest months in a long time,” Ryan said.
However, Nguyen Van My, chairman of Lua Viet Tourism Co Ltd, said that the city does not have a wide variety of night-time activities.
Most tourists just eat and drink beer at night because their options are limited, unlike in other places where the night-time economy thrives.
“For example, Taiwan has hundreds of night markets, and tourists visit different night markets every night since they are all unique.
“While HCM City is a popular tourist attraction, there is no ‘proper night market’ here, only a few food markets,” Nguyen Van My said.Vendors at night markets only function until 11pm, even though they are allowed to remain open until 6am the next day.
These markets currently serve mostly domestic customers and only a minimal number of foreign tourists.
Nguyen Thi Lan, owner of a stall in District 4’s Xom Chieu Food Market, told the Doanh Nhan Saigon Newspaper that before Covid-19, her stall served dozens of foreign customers every night, but there were very few foreigners now.
Once popular night-time places like the underground Central Market in District 1 were also seeing fewer customers after the pandemic, with many kiosks standing abandoned.
Truong Hoang Phuong, a member of the product research board under the HCM City Tourism Association, said that HCM City needs to create more unique night-time activities to encourage spending, including leisure facilities where tourists can hang out all night.
Several economists have noted that night-time activities usually account for a significant proportion of tourism spending, so they should be encouraged by setting up special zones to foster the night economy with proper investment and long-term plans. — Vietnam News/ANN
