Most overseas visitors to Vietnam are complaining about the lack of nightlife entertainment venues, making them be fed up with or even be willing not to return, a recent survey stated.
HCM City, which is known as the leading tourism hub of Vietnam, is not an exception, the survey said, adding many tourist places such as Hanoi, Hoi An Ancient Town in Danang and Hue City are also sitting the same situation.
“Most foreign tourists have nothing to entertain besides visiting museums, shopping centers and restaurants, then go to bed as their travel firms could hardly find any attractive show or entertainment places to lead them to in the evening,” it said.
This is one of main reasons why 70 per cent of tourists do not return Hanoi after their first visit.
“Even just five, six years ago, you could go to some streets in HCM City and discover a handful of discos, bars or cafes that were open all night. But those all got busted in the overzealous ‘social evils’ campaigns,” noted one long-term expatriate here.
“It is not just the foreign tourists,” an official of local travel firm moans, “even local tourists find Ho Chi Minh City lacking in terms of entertainment these days, especially at night.”
The newly merged Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a meeting September 12, in part to address the lack of world-class nightlife in Ho Chi Minh City and other entertainment venues throughout the country.
Minister Hoang Tuan Anh stated that he will propose the repeal of the current ban on HCM City entertainment venues opening past midnight which has existed for more than a decade already.
The “Cinderella rule”, as one official called it has not helped reduce social evils. It has only held back the development of the city’s tourism, an industry that could be making much more spectacular profits by now.
Vietnam, one of the 20 best travel destinations in 2007, welcomed 3.2 million international tourists in the first nine months of this year, posting an on-year increase of 18 per cent.
The tourism industry now contributes 8 per cent to Vietnam’s national GDP. (Thanh Nien Daily)
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