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| Experiencing Phap Lam cake wrapping at Phu Noi Vu (Internal Affairs Department, Imperial Citadel) |
Royal art shows, court cuisine, traditional craft village experiences, heritage education, and products featuring royal motifs are expected to both boost revenue and ease pressure on the monuments.
Shows with million-dong ticket prices
At the Imperial City, the Center is finalizing a series of shows that combine traditional arts, technology, and cuisine. According to Mr. Le Cong Son, Deputy Director of the Center, about four shows are scheduled daily, including three at Duyet Thi Duong Royal Theater and one live-action performance in front of Kien Trung Palace.
Shows at Duyet Thi Duong Royal Theater are aimed at the high-end market, with ticket prices expected to reach millions of dong. Following the show, visitors can enjoy court cuisine in the Phu Noi Vu area. Meanwhile, the live-action spectacle in front of Kien Trung Palace is projected to cost 300,000 to 400,000 VND per ticket, blending live performance with advanced lighting technology and 3D mapping.
We have surveyed shows in many places. Hue’s court music and Nha Nhac possess many unique elements that cannot be replicated, but for a long time, we have not fully realized their potential,” Mr. Son acknowledged.
Under the proposed plan, the Center will oversee the content, script, and artistic ensemble from the Hue Royal Theatre of Traditional Arts. Meanwhile, its partner will supply the technology, operational resources, sales channels, and international marketing.
Recently, the unit has catered to several high-end tour groups from Northern Europe, Europe, North America, India, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. According to Mr. Son, spending by these high-yield visitors can reach 5,000 to 6,000 USD per person for heritage experiences. They receive exclusive service, featuring traditional court music and fine cuisine in a private setting.
This is the visitor segment the Center plans to target for further development.
“Our strategy is to leverage heritage at a moderate pace, prioritizing quality over quantity,” Mr. Son shared. “A higher volume of visitors places greater physical strain on the monuments. It is better to operate on a smaller scale with high economic efficiency, ensuring we do not impose excessive pressure on heritage.”
Parallel to shows and cuisine, Phu Noi Vu (Internal Affairs Department) is set to become a high-quality cultural and tourism hub, combining event hosting, interactive experiences, traditional crafts, dining, and souvenir retail.
Expanding the heritage economy “ecosystem”
Another change being rolled out by the Hue Monuments Conservation Center is tighter control over souvenir products at heritage sites.
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| Shows at Duyet Thi Duong Royal Theater are slated for premium-tier positioning |
Previously, under a fixed-fee concession scheme, vendor operators selected their own inventory. Consequently, items with little connection to Hue’s culture—and even foreign-made goods—found their way into heritage spaces. The Center has since been phasing out these products.
Souvenirs are now being developed as exclusive product lines through joint efforts between the Center and business partners. Royal motifs and patterns serve as the design foundation, with products featuring co-branding from both the Center and its corporate collaborators.
Each historical site is also slated to have a dedicated product line tailored to its specific character. The Imperial Citadel will feature its own distinct branding, while sites like the Khai Dinh Tomb or the Thieu Tri Tomb will adopt custom commercial approaches.
Mr. Son emphasized that souvenirs should not merely be commodities sold to tourists, but must become an integral part of the heritage narrative, reflecting Hue's identity through their design, materials, and cultural storytelling.
These new products are part of a broader development plan. According to Mr. Hoang Viet Trung, Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, the agency has been formulating and advising on tourism service development projects since 2012 to unlock the value of the Complex of Hue Monuments. The next phase, approved under Decision No. 1911/QD-UBND on August 14, 2023, by the Thua Thien Hue Provincial People's Committee (formerly), will run through 2030.
Almost three years since rollout, service operations across the monuments have seen marked improvements and year-on-year revenue growth. Aggregate service revenue over the past three years is estimated at roughly 93 billion VND.
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| Visitors can enjoy afternoon tea at Ngoc Dich Lake for a one-of-a-kind experience |
However, this outcome is not yet commensurate with the scale of resources and the appeal of the Complex of Hue Monuments.
Legal hurdles in commercializing public assets remain a major barrier,” Mr. Trung noted. Over 90% of current public asset utilization relies on direct self-management by the unit, while leasing models and joint ventures remain limited.
Service products are not yet diverse or synchronized, and promotional efforts remain unprofessional. Hue has also not attracted many capable, professional, and culturally knowledgeable investors to participate in large-scale projects such as live performance shows, light technology, or cultural industry products. The sensitive heritage environment also makes investors hesitant.
The project “Leveraging and Promoting the Value of the Complex of Hue Monuments through 2035,” recently approved by the Hue City People's Committee, sets a revenue target of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 billion VND from public asset management between 2026 and 2035. By 2035, this revenue is expected to account for 40 to 50% of total entrance fee collections at the heritage sites.
To this end, the strategy focuses on developing cultural industries, creative design, performing arts, heritage fashion, products featuring royal motifs, fine handicrafts, heritage education, and digital cultural experiences.
Over the next couple of years, the Center plans to introduce heritage education programs with dedicated spaces and specialized content for international tourists, Son noted.
A partner has proposed launching a program by the end of this year, with the Thieu Tri Tomb selected for site survey. The target audience includes groups of students with the means to participate in immersive experiences. Rather than simply listening to guided tours, participants will interact and learn about architecture, history, traditional crafts, and royal culture through specialized experience packages.
From shows, cuisine, and gifts to heritage education and digital experiences, the current strategy is to unlock additional value from existing assets, rather than increasing pressure by crowding more visitors into the monuments.
The challenge for the upcoming phase is therefore not simply raising revenue, but striking a balance between commercialization and conservation: lower in volume, higher in value; selectively choosing partners and products; and ensuring that every experience within the heritage space gives visitors a compelling reason to visit Hue.