Central Vietnamese market thronged with int’l visitors on shopping spree
Central Vietnamese market thronged with int’l visitors on shopping spree
While a number of businesses saw their sales dampened by an economic downturn, vendors at Han Market in Da Nang City, central Vietnam posted upbeat revenue buoyed by a massive influx of international tourists during the first days of 2024.
Tourists and local shoppers crowd Han Market in Da Nang City, central Vietnam. Photo: Thanh Nguyen / Tuoi Tre News |
Local vendors made the most of this sales-driving opportunity to promote their products to the international visitors, with the majority of them South Koreans, Indians, and Japanese.
Most of the tourists preferred dried fruits like jackfruits, lychees, and longans thanks to their low prices and pleasant tastes.
Nguyen Thi Anh, owner of a stall at the market, revealed that international visitors to her stall opted for jelly fruit candies and dried fruits, adding that she pinned high hopes on better sales this year.
Vendors in charge of fabrics and garment stalls were also busy selling their items.
Tran Thi Thien, who has offered clothes for sale at the market for more than 33 years, said clothing stall owners there had transformed their businesses by switching to selling more items promoting the image of Vietnam.
The soaring number of international visitors to the market during the New Year holiday has enabled the vendors to improve their sales considerably, Thien said and wished for increasing sales in the upcoming time.
Min Ju, a South Korean visitor who was holding three large bags containing products bought at the market, shared that he felt very at home as there were so many South Koreans at the market.
“The locals are friendly and speak Korean rather well," Min said.
“I bought lots of clothing items for my next trip to [neighboring] Hoi An."
A group of South Korean tourists go shopping at Han Market in Da Nang City, central Vietnam. Photo: Thanh Nguyen / Tuoi Tre |
Nguyen Thu, deputy head of the Han Market management authority, confirmed that the marketplace had served a huge volume of tourists these days.
As the market’s sales are closely associated with the local tourism growth, the management authority already spent VND8.5 billion (US$348,700) renovating the market to better serve visitors, Thu said.
Founded in 1940, the Han Market is situated at 119 Tran Phu Street in Hai Chau 1 Ward, Hai Chau District and is bounded by four of the busiest streets in Da Nang, including Tran Phu, Hung Vuong, Bach Dang, and Nguyen Thai Hoc.
The 28,000-square-meter market houses 576 stalls and 36 kiosks selling a wide selection of products. It opens from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm every day.
Data from the Da Nang Department of Tourism showed that 434 domestic and international flights arrived in this central coastal city during the New Year holiday.
Since Christmas, the city has serviced 123,000 domestic visitors and 138,000 international vacationers.