A corner of Hoi An ancient town seen from above at night.
Developing and expanding tourism in the direction of green tourism , circular tourism , experiential tourism and diversifying destinations, diversifying tourism products according to the chain of links... to attract tourists to reduce pressure on relics is an effective way. At the same time, tourist destinations in the suburbs of the old town such as Duy Xuyen, Dien Ban, Thang Binh (old) are also developing day by day. People's lives are improved, the tourism environment is guaranteed.
Pressure on monuments
Since Hoi An Ancient Town was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage in 1999, the number of tourists has increased; contributing to promoting socio-economic development. Statistics show that in 1999, the number of visitors to Hoi An reached 100,000, by 2024, Hoi An welcomed more than 4.4 million visitors, of which the number of international visitors reached about 3.57 million. Revenue from tourism also reached a record of 5,231 billion VND, showing a strong recovery and bright prospects for the local tourism industry. In the first 6 months of 2025 alone, the total number of visitors to Hoi An is estimated at 2.8 million, an increase of 17.4% over the same period in 2024.
The development of tourism has promoted the development of many commercial and service activities in Hoi An, contributing to the formation of economic bases and attracting community resources. However, the rapid development is creating pressure on the space of the ancient town.
According to Professor, Dr. Lam Thi My Dung, Head of the History Department, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, in recent years, Hoi An is not only "over" but "over; over; over", meaning "too overloaded" with tourism. Because this is a very convenient place where tourists can go from Da Nang, stop to see, relax. Then they can go to My Son and go to other places.
"Because the geographical location of Hoi An and the surrounding satellite tourist attractions are so convenient for travel, there are a lot of tourists coming here. Moreover, before the Covid-19 pandemic, tourist attractions and accompanying entertainment types in the surrounding areas were not yet developed, and most of the tourism products were concentrated in the central area of the old town, making the already narrow space here even more cramped," Professor, Dr. Lam Thi My Dung shared.
Previously, Quang Nam province and Hoi An city (old) invested in and restored the relics in the old town. Thanks to that, Hoi An was recognized by UNESCO as one of the places that has done well in preserving cultural heritage values in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the ancient town of Hoi An is currently facing many shortcomings in preserving and promoting the value of the relics.
Hoi An ancient town is a famous tourist destination and is located on the world tourist map.
According to statistics, there are currently about 200 houses in the old town that have been transferred or rented to people from other places for business purposes, causing the space and lifestyle of the old town to change and deform. In the past, old houses were places of worship, family activities, and cultural spaces, but now they have been demolished, with only one function remaining: selling goods. This has gradually eroded the soul of Hoi An's old town, so it is necessary to re-plan the architectural space of the old town soon to reduce tourism pressure, fire and explosion risks, traffic density, the environment, and especially to limit the impact of climate change.
Mr. Nguyen Van Son, former Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province (formerly) said that since becoming a World Cultural Heritage, Hoi An has become an attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists. Revenue from tourism and services has increased, and people's lives have improved. However, preserving the soul of the ancient urban area of Hoi An poses many challenges.
"What we are most worried about now, apart from some cases of houses being deformed due to business needs, is the situation of "heavy bleeding of relics". We use this term because it is a situation where people are forced to sell their old houses for many reasons. Currently, the value of an old house in the old quarter is from 40 to 50 billion VND/house, so it leads to a change in the owner of the heritage, the owner of the relic. The change of the owner of the heritage is an unavoidable requirement, we cannot overcome it. Because it is the property of the people. People can exercise their rights according to the law", Mr. Son said.
Hoi An is recognized by UNESCO as one of the places that does a good job of preserving cultural heritage values in the Asia-Pacific region.
Hoi An inherently possesses complex and unique characteristics that are rarely found elsewhere. The complexity and uniqueness of Hoi An are reflected in its geographical location and natural conditions of a land located at the mouth of the Thu Bon River, along the coast of Cua Dai and Cu Lao Cham Island. Moreover, that characteristic also lies in its history of formation and is the place where many groups of residents, although of different origins, have interacted, assimilated, and blended throughout history to date on a modest area. Therefore, the development of Hoi An city in the past could not be separated but required relying on heritage to plan appropriate directions, following the motto "preserve to develop and develop to preserve".
Diversity of tourism products in the surrounding area
In recent times, in addition to mobilizing investment capital and support from domestic and foreign organizations to restore hundreds of relics, the former Hoi An city government has also created many unique tourism products such as: "Old Town Night", "Walking Street", night markets... associated with many festivals and traditional cultural activities that have created attraction for tourists.
Faced with the pressure of tourists flocking to the central area, with the advantage of more than 50 long-standing traditional craft villages containing intangible cultural values such as: Kim Bong carpentry village, Triem Tay village, Thanh Ha pottery village, Lam Yen drum village, brocade weaving village of the Co Tu people...
In addition, Quang Nam province (old) also has 128 rural agricultural tourism spots; in which, there are many effective tourist spots such as: Tra Que vegetable village, Bay Mau coconut forest Cam Thanh, Cu Lao Cham, Tan Thanh fishing village... The locality has reformed the way of doing tourism by taking advantage of agricultural and rural resources to develop eco-tourism, community tourism, experiential tourism... to expand the number of visitors to the suburbs and neighboring areas. Especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, international tourists are increasingly looking for tourist spots close to nature and ecology.
To unleash the local potential, Quang Nam province has previously had many policies, plans, infrastructure investments, promotion, and support for tourism development. These include Resolution No. 13-NQ/TU dated July 20, 2021 of the Quang Nam Provincial Party Committee on developing trade and tourism in Quang Nam province until 2025, with a vision to 2030; Green tourism development plan until 2025. This is also the first locality in the country to announce a set of green tourism criteria.
Silk Sense Hoi An River Resort in Hoi An Tay Ward, Da Nang City is one of 11 units to achieve green tourism standard certification according to the Quang Nam Green Tourism Criteria by the end of 2022. Then in early September 2023, this unit became the first plastic waste-free hotel in Vietnam. Mr. Tran Thai Do, investor of Silk Sense Hoi An River Resort, said that with the orientation of sustainable development, we have pursued the "Environmental Protection Journey" by using environmentally friendly materials and by programs to reduce plastic waste at the hotel. We have set specific criteria and solutions for each waste problem and applied them synchronously and actively to ensure the complete elimination of plastic waste at the hotel.
"When we announced that we are a plastic waste-free hotel, we put ourselves under pressure to always comply and maintain it. This not only brings profit to the business but also proves that the hotel is very environmentally friendly and meets the needs of responsible travelers. At the same time, it is for us to carry out our mission as well as our journey of sustainable development with the Vietnamese tourism industry," Mr. Do shared.
The Hoiana Resort & Golf Complex is built on the 4km long coastline of Duy Nghia Commune, Da Nang City. Previously, this area was all wild white sand and dilapidated houses. Although right next to Hoi An is a bustling tourist service, people depend on the sea all year round to make a living. However, when the Hoiana Resort Complex project was started and put into operation, fishermen who were used to fishing gear gradually changed their jobs.
Hoi An ancient town is crowded with tourists at night.
Mr. Alan Teo, General Director of Hoiana Resort & Golf, shared that tourism overload is a situation that many places in the world are facing. In Vietnam, tourists still focus on a few prominent destinations, while neighboring areas have not been properly invested to share the flow of visitors. Understanding green tourism as simply protecting the environment is not enough, but it is necessary to recognize its true nature, know how much the destination is overloaded, have a strategy to distribute the flow of visitors and create value for the local community. This is an inevitable direction if Vietnam in general, Da Nang and Hoi An tourism in particular, want to develop tourism in depth instead of just counting the number of visitors.
"Hoiana chooses to develop in parallel to complement the tourism ecosystem of Da Nang in general and Hoi An in particular. We create a space that is both environmentally friendly and imbued with local identity, where visitors not only relax but also connect with the culture and people here. This contributes to the reasonable distribution of visitors, reducing pressure on the ancient town, while extending the length of stay and increasing spending value. Moreover, for Hoiana, green tourism is not only about dispersing visitors, expanding the space for experience and preserving cultural resources, but also a way for us to contribute to the direction of helping Hoi An tourism develop sustainably," said Mr. Alan Teo.
Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Da Nang City, Van Ba Son, said that diversifying tourism products and focusing on developing community tourism will make Da Nang City tourism a very special and unique tourist destination with typical tourism products.
"Expanding the space for developing community tourism to the suburbs and surrounding areas of the old town will contribute to expanding the space for development and tourism. Tourism activities are not only concentrated around the central area but are also opened to craft villages and rural areas not too far away and have many attractive tourist destinations. This creates an open tourism space and conditions for building infrastructure and expanding the scope of people benefiting from tourism activities," said Mr. Son.
Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/tiep-can-phat-trien-du-lich-vung-phu-can-de-giam-tai-ap-luc-cho-pho-co-hoi-an-20250731164057175.htm
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