Hanoi authorities started to create space for night-time tourism activities in 2016, such as making the streets around the Old Quarter a vehicle-free pedestrian mall and opening a night market on the weekends so that tourists have more things to do when in Vietnam’s capital. As night falls, Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter are the two most popular places for foreign and domestic tourists as well as local people.
Experts, however, argue that the thousand-year-old Hanoi has much more to offer beyond night markets or restaurants. It has historical and cultural sites and needs to adopt a different approach to develop its tourism strengths. The “Sacred Night” tour offered at Hoa Lo Prison by the prison and Hanoitourist is part of a promotional program for the city that aims to promote domestic tourism.
By integrating technology into exploration tourism and developing a multi-dimensional approach to promoting the night-time economy, Hanoi is on course to develop its tourism industry./.
