Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi is shifting from event-based tourism toward a year-round experience model, using festivals as gateways to longer stays, deeper cultural encounters, and repeat visits.
Hanoi’s tourism events are increasingly designed to inspire exploration beyond individual festivals.
At the Hanoi Tourism Gift Festival, for instance, visitors can make handicrafts with artisans, explore destinations through virtual reality and discover new tours and tourism stimulus programmes.
The approach turns festivals into starting points for longer journeys, complemented by the Hanoi Tourism Festival at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, summer tourism programmes, night tours and cultural events.
Tran Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said festivals were increasingly being used to introduce tourism products, linked tours and year-round experiences, helping reduce seasonality and make better use of the capital’s heritage and tourism infrastructure.
Hanoi is also developing more immersive products to encourage longer stays and repeat visits.
At Bat Trang pottery village, visitors can make their own ceramics, meet artisans and learn the stories behind traditional products. Similar experiences have been developed through night tours at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, visits to the Hoa Lo Prison Relic Site and activities at Van Phuc silk village.
Vietravel Hanoi said tourists, particularly international visitors, increasingly sought hands-on encounters with local culture, crafts, cuisine and communities.
According to Agoda’s 2025 Return Visitor Rank, Vietnam ranked third in Asia for international visitor return rates, after Japan and Thailand. Hanoi was among the country’s five destinations with the highest number of returning international visitors.
The trend highlights the growing importance of distinctive experiences in strengthening destination competitiveness and encouraging repeat visits./.
