Today’s travelers are no longer content with “travel for seeing”. Instead, they seek deeper experiences, more authentic connections with the places they visit. Furthermore, they also look for the unique, distinctive identity of each destination. In this context, developing tourism that “touches the authentic essence” is not merely a trend, but an inevitable requirement for enhancing competitiveness.

Ms. Hoang Thi Khanh, 81 years old, selling betel nut at Dong Ba market, said that before 1975, small traders all wore ao dai, and Dong Ba was like a miniature Hue, a place preserving the essence of Hue's cultural heritage. Sometimes visitors from far away come to Hue, to Dong Ba market, just to hear the very authentic Hue dialect of the old and young ladies.