Building a culinary map to "keep" tourists

With three key tourism development goals in 2025, Da Nang city is gradually implementing specific tasks, including implementing new approaches, to create more attractive highlights, attracting long-term tourists. In 2025, the city aims to welcome and serve more than 11.9 million visitors at accommodation establishments; total revenue from accommodation, food and beverage and travel services strives to reach more than 36,000 billion VND.

SinceMichelin food guideOfficially introduced in Da Nang in June 2024, Da Nang became the third city in Vietnam to be recognized by this prestigious global culinary organization for its unique seafood dishes and diverse regional cuisine. Currently, 36 restaurants and eateries in Da Nang have been honored by Michelin Guide with "delicious, reasonable price" Bib Gourmand 2024, one restaurant was awarded one Michelin star and one restaurant received Michelin Green Star. In early 2025, the city was honored to be listed as an ideal destination for culinary tourism and remote workers (digital nomads) in 2025. In the Asia region, Michelin Guide has proposed Da Nang as one of the 10 must-see destinations in 2025 for travelers who love cuisine and exploration.

As the first locality in the country to build and implement the Da Nang Food Tour Culinary Passport program from the end of 2024, the city is currently expanding this initiative with the experience of collecting stamps to exchange for many attractive gifts during the period from March 28 to June 28. During this period, Da Nang continues to issue 5,000 Culinary Passports (bilingual) with many attractive incentives for tourists. The program not only provides information on local, regional and international culinary destinations and specialties, but also creates attractive interactive experiences for tourists. Through the official website www.foodtourdanang.vn, visitors can access the Da Nang Culinary Digital Map with full information on 400 prestigious culinary destinations, Michelin Guide-honored restaurants and a diverse list of specialties as gifts.

According to many tourists, Da Nang cuisine has its own unique characteristics with the rich flavors of the sunny and windy central region, creating a difference compared to the cuisine of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Ms. Phan Hai Quynh Nga, a Vietnamese student studying in Japan, currently residing in Thanh Khe district, shared after receiving her Culinary Passport at Da Nang International Airport and experiencing the cuisine at Madame Lan restaurant: “I am very happy that my hometown’s Mi Quang has just been recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. To me, Mi Quang is the taste of my hometown. Culinary culture has a special meaning for people who are far from home like me. Every time I return or miss home, my soul still turns to dishes with the strong taste of my hometown, even though I have traveled to many places and enjoyed many cuisines around the world.”

Danang Tourism Ambassador, Miss International 2024 Huynh Thi Thanh Thuy promotes Danang cuisine at Danang Food Tour Festival 2025.

Ms. Do Thi Yen, Director and Owner of Hien Nha Veranda Restaurant chain in Da Nang and Draft Beer, said: “Being selected as a partner in the Da Nang Food Tour Culinary Passport program, we have carefully selected and introduced the most unique and special dishes to create an unforgettable impression for diners. Participating in the Da Nang Culinary Digital Map is not only a recognition but also a motivation to improve service quality, contributing to promoting the unique value of Vietnamese cuisine on the world culinary map”.

Diversify the culinary market

Currently, Da Nang is promoting communication activities to build its image as a leading culinary destination, a place where traditional local cuisine and international cuisine converge and blend. The city continuously organizes events such as the Culinary Passport campaign, the Culinary Festival, and promotes digital transformation in the culinary business. The city also focuses on connecting dining establishments with technology solution providers such as iPOS and KiotViet to optimize business processes and enhance the customer experience. These efforts not only contribute to promoting the value of Vietnamese cuisine but also create motivation to attract tourists to return to Da Nang.

The People's Committee of Da Nang City has issued a Project on the orientation of tourism development in Da Nang City to 2030, with a vision to 2045, in which cuisine is identified as one of the strategic tourism products that need to be prioritized to improve quality and develop diversely and creatively. The city pays special attention to developing local cuisine, central cuisine and the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine to become typical tourism products. Each culinary product focuses on the factor of "standard taste", appealing to both the eyes and taste, while clearly showing regional characteristics.

Regarding the tourist market, Da Nang prioritizes developing domestic tourists from provinces and cities with direct flights such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh province, the Red River Delta provinces and Ho Chi Minh City.

For the international market, the city focuses on attracting high-spending customer segments such as leisure, MICE, golf, resort, wedding tourism... from markets in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, gradually expanding to exploit new, potential markets in Western Europe, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, India and the United States.

To become a prominent culinary destination, Da Nang has identified developing culinary tourism products in three groups: local cuisine, regional cuisine and international cuisine. Each group is developed in three segments, specifically: High-end culinary tourism products serving customers who want to experience high-class cuisine; street food tourism products associated with traditional values; and culinary products associated with rural agriculture, effectively utilizing local raw materials, contributing to ensuring sustainable livelihoods for people.

With more than 20 years of experience in the culinary industry as a head chef and currently working at the Sheraton Grand Danang Resort, Mr. Le Thanh Tai, Chairman of the Danang Professional Chefs Association, said: For a famous tourist city like Danang, building a local brand through cuisine, through developing dishes with strong regional identity plays a strategic role. Along with improving the quality of service for domestic tourists, we pay special attention to adapting to the needs of international visitors from emerging markets, including India. “We have been making efforts to improve quality, ensure food hygiene and safety, diversify signature dishes, and strengthen links and cooperation between units to bring the best experience to visitors. The most important factor is to develop human resources for chefs, improve professionalism in using food to serve a variety of domestic and international guests,” Mr. Tai emphasized.

Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Da Nang Truong Thi Hong Hanh affirmed: In order to develop cuisine into a unique tourism product, promote spending and attract visitors, the city has implemented many synchronous solutions. We not only encourage businesses to improve service quality but also apply appropriate mechanisms and policies to develop cuisine into a typical tourism product of Da Nang. “In 2025, for the first time, the city successfully organized the Da Nang Food Tour Festival 2025, opening up opportunities to experience the quintessence of Da Nang cuisine. This is an important event in the chain of cultural and tourism activities of the city, not only to honor and promote the cultural values ​​of local, regional and international cuisine, but also to lay the foundation for developing into an annual event, contributing to making Da Nang a leading culinary destination on the world tourism map,” Ms. Hanh added.