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| Tourists exploring the Western Quarter and using tailoring services. Photo: HOANG HAI |
Adding momentum to the journey
Hearing that AEON MALL Hue would host a music program featuring singers Thuy Chi and Anh Tu (August 23rd), young travelers Thai Minh and Thanh Truc from Quang Ngai shortened their trip in Da Nang to come to Hue and meet their idols. They scheduled a one-day, one-night stay in Hue to enjoy multiple activities. “This trip to Hue gave us the chance to both sightsee and experience shopping and cuisine. In particular, it is combined with live performances by singers made it so much more exciting and enjoyable,” Minh shared.
Recently, AEON MALL Hue has hosted numerous concerts and art programs. These events are part of its strategy to not only attract visitors to the mall but also to contribute to tourism promotion. According to representatives of AEON MALL Hue, its linkage-oriented plans include: cultural shows combined with dining, entertainment, and shopping; free shuttle buses from hotels/attractions to the mall; joint advertising and cross-promotion with travel agencies, hotels, and restaurants; and organizing large-scale travel fairs within the mall.
The combination of tourism, shopping, and art performances is helping address long-standing “bottlenecks” in Hue’s tourism. Shopping has long been seen as a supplementary activity enhancing visitor experience. As living standards rise, shopping demand increases, making it an increasingly influential factor in tourists’ travel decisions. Moreover, today’s travelers - especially young people, are passionate about art events featuring their favorite idols. Therefore, blending travel, shopping, and artistic enjoyment is a strong driver encouraging visitors to come to Hue and stay longer.
In Hue, tourism combined with shopping has existed for quite some time. Visitors would want to visit and shop at traditional markets, especially Dong Ba Market. However, these local markets generally struggle to create real appeal for tourists and are difficult for travel companies to package into professional tours. Meanwhile, in the past, Hue lacked high-standard shopping centers capable of drawing tourists and rarely hosted art programs featuring idol singers popular with the youth.
Stronger partnerships between travel agencies and shopping centers can help both businesses and tourists build more flexible itineraries. Beyond meeting shopping and entertainment needs, they also ease concerns such as waiting for flights, adjusting plans for delays, or handling changing schedules due to heavy rain... In particular, having art programs can add interest to tour schedules or at the very least provide an enjoyable leisure option during free time.
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| Large crowds of locals and tourists at AEON MALL Hue for a concert performed by Anh Tu |
Developing tours and routes is highly needed
Shopping and art performances are excellent opportunities to attract tourists. However, for long-term development that benefits all stakeholders, it is not enough to rely on walk-in visitors; tourism products and tour routes need to be developed, linking travel agencies and tourism businesses with shopping centers, aiming for win-win cooperation.
Recently, the Department of Tourism has organized activities for travel agencies to survey and develop suitable tourism products. Yet, incorporating shopping centers as official stops on tour programs still depends on many factors. Mrs. Duong Thi Cong Ly, Vice Chairwoman and Head of the Products Committee of Hue City Travel Association, stressed that travel businesses hope to soon work with AEON MALL Hue to establish cooperative policies and mechanisms for developing tour products.
Experience from other countries shows that integrating shopping, art performances, and entertainment at malls into travel itineraries is common. There are many models of collaboration between tourism and commerce, such as incorporating dining services into tours or offering tourists vouchers. Visitors can freely choose dining and shopping options within the mall, making itineraries more flexible and time-efficient.
The infrastructure for shopping tourism and art performances is already in place. What remains is long-term cooperation built on concrete commitments, incentive policies, and effective stimulus measures. Based on the plans and strategies of shopping centers and travel-hospitality businesses, attractive tourism products can be developed to improve visitor experiences and increase their spending when traveling in Hue.