Fireworks performance by the Finnish team at Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2025. Photo: VNA  

With its rich historical and cultural heritage combined with dynamic and creative development, the central city of Da Nang is positioning itself as one of Vietnam’s three major cultural industry hubs.

The Politburo’s Resolution 80-NQ/TW on the development of Vietnamese culture is “opening the way” for businesses in this sector to invest, innovate, and create internationally recognised cultural tourism products, thus enhancing the city’s brand as a desirable destination.

Innovation rooted in identity

Cultural industries leverage creativity and cultural, artistic, intellectual, and heritage values to produce goods and services that meet societal needs while generating both economic and spiritual value. Da Nang is home to unique folk traditions, including two UNESCO-recognised World Heritage sites, 26 nationally recognised intangible cultural heritage elements, four special national, 84 national, and 475 city-level relics, and numerous temples, ancient towns, traditional festivals, and craft villages.

Over the years, the city has led in preserving and promoting heritage, encouraging the adaptation of traditional arts in modern performance, cultural tourism products, and digital content.

The “Hoi An Memories” live performance, launched eight years ago, exemplifies this approach. The open-air show, covering 25,000sq.m with hundreds of artists, has been recognised as one of the world’s most beautiful performances. According to Than Thi Thu Huyen, Executive Director of Hoi An Memories Land, its success rests on three pillars: a creative and continuously innovative approach to culture, international-standard investment, and tourism-oriented thinking integrated with experiential ecosystems. The performance transforms heritage into multi-sensory experiences, continuously refreshed with modern presentation technologies, sustaining global appeal.

Resolution 80-NQ/TW marks a milestone by placing culture on an equal footing with the economy and politics, recognising it not only as a spiritual foundation but also as an endogenous resource for a spearhead economic sector. For pioneering companies like Hoi An Memories Land, the resolution validates long-term investment in integrating culture and history into entertainment and tourism.

The Government’s enabling role

The resolution sets strategic targets: by 2030, cultural industries are expected to contribute 7% of GDP, with 5–10 national cultural industry brands emerging in sectors such as film, performing arts, cultural tourism, design, and fashion. It emphasises improving institutions, unlocking resources, and providing preferential policies, including land incentives and corporate tax exemptions, for creative startups in culture and entertainment.

Da Nang’s International Fireworks Festival, now in its 13th year, has enhanced the city’s global profile. A representative from Sun Group stressed that to establish the festival as a national cultural brand in line with Resolution 80-NQ/TW, the city must play a “conductor” role, facilitating investment in fixed infrastructure such as grandstands and stages that can operate year-round as cultural spaces.

Currently, Da Nang is focusing on seven cultural industry sectors, including cultural tourism, festivals, sports and entertainment, film, and digital media. Initiatives like the Da Nang Asia Film Festival (DANAFF) are shaping the city’s international cultural and entertainment brand.

With over 2,200 accommodation establishments, nearly 66,000 rooms, including the country’s largest number of rated 4- and 5-star hotels, 57 tourist sites, 682 travel companies, and thousands of guides and dining establishments, Da Nang possesses a strong foundation to propel its cultural industries. The city aims to achieve 10% annual growth in cultural industries by 2030, welcoming over 19 million visitors, including 7.8 million foreigners, in 2026, and generating 70 trillion VND (2.65 billion USD) in tourism revenue, up 15% year-on-year.

Resolution 80-NQ/TW opens opportunities for Da Nang to mobilise resources and develop its cultural industries as a new growth driver, enhancing the city’s soft power, reinforcing its identity, and elevating its global brand./.