Vietnam's night-time activities are local, scarce: Thai expert

After the government approved a project on night-time economy development in 2020, a series of major cities and tourist destinations have launched nightlife entertainment activities for the past three years but Vietnam's night-time economy has yet to take off.

In many countries, the night economy has generated a huge source of revenue. In France, for example, nightlife activities generated revenues of $157 billion in 2019, about 20% of total tourism revenues.

In Thailand, the figure was $63 billion, representing 11% of the total tourism industry revenue.

In Vietnam, most only know Bui Vien and Ta Hien beer hubs, Vietnam's busiest backpacker precincts. So far, the tourism industry has not yet released specific revenues coming from the night economy.

Chattan Kunjara, deputy governor for International Marketing at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said he has traveled to Vietnam many times and explored nightlife activities in Ho Chi Minh City.

Kunjara said there were actually little to explore.

"I once chose a high-class place for a night hangout. I went to a bar in the tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City," he said.

"But to be honest, I didn't know exactly where to go for nightlife and I didn't have more information about entertainment places.

"A local drove me around HCMC on a Vespa before taking me to a tea room where a female singer sang in Vietnamese, then he took me to a discotheque."

Nightlife activities in Vietnam were thriving in the second half of 2019 before the Covid outbreak.

"Thailand has already had night-time activities 50 or 60 years ago. Night-time activities in Vietnam are pretty young," Kunjara said.

"If you search on Google or on Internet, you won't find many things related to night-time entertainment services. Very few, very few. Your nightlife isn't bad, but there's something very local. Compared to the nightlife in Bangkok, perhaps Vietnam still has a long way to go."

Chattan said Vietnam has too few night markets, which have become a tourist staple in Thailand.

Vietnam has only 20 night markets across the whole country, while only in Bangkok there are at least 10 such markets.

"I find it quite inconvenient to visit night markets in Vietnam. If I want to go to the night market, how do I get there? If I'm in Ho Chi Minh City and I want to go to the night market, do I have to take a taxi?" Chattan added.

In Bangkok, all night markets are near the Bangkok Subway, one of the most convenient ways to travel around the city.

In addition to night markets, other tourism products such as street food courts, art performances, or night bus tours should also be considered.

Safety remains a top priority when launching night-time entertainment services. Vietnamese police should increase patrol at night to ensure safety for tourists, he said.

According to the Vietnam Tourism Summit 2018, international visitors spend nine days on average while visiting Vietnam and Thailand. However, tourist spending per day in Thailand was $163 per person while the figure for Vietnam was only $96.

This year Vietnam is targeting 8 million foreign arrivals as the government starts seeking ways to revive its tourism industry while Thailand is eyeing 30 million international visitors.