“Eat to remember”
Cuisine is one of the most important factors to create an attractive destination. Most of the world tourism honors for Hoi An are accompanied by suggestions to enjoy the diverse culinary "colors" typical of this land.
Another difference, defining the identity of Hoi An's culinary tourism, is that visitors can not only eat but also experience the entire cooking process like a real local.
No wonder in 2024, the world's leading travel consulting site Lonely Planet (USA) ranked the cooking experience in Hoi An in the top 13 experiences worth trying when visiting Vietnam.
Traditional culinary tours in Hoi An often take visitors to explore rural markets and traditional agricultural production areas. This is where they can have the most authentic experiences of life and culture in the rural areas of Quang Nam.
In addition, visitors can choose their own agricultural products and participate in cooking classes, learn about the process of preparing traditional dishes and then excitedly enjoy the products they have just prepared.
In the early days of 2025, restaurants in Hoi An continued to welcome many international groups of visitors choosing to experience rural culture and traditional culinary tours. Cooking classes in the suburbs are increasingly expanding, attracting a large number of visitors.
Ms. Mia San, a tourist from Australia, said: “Joining the tour, for the first time I thoroughly explored the process from field to table. Among them were dishes that I prepared for the first time in my life. These were the most memorable experiences during my trip to Vietnam.”
In 2023, the revenue of the food and beverage industry in Quang Nam will reach about 1,200 billion VND (an increase of 40% compared to 2019). Currently, there are hundreds of households developing food businesses in the direction of rural and traditional tourism.
Mr. Le Hoang Ha - Director of Duy Nhat Hoi An Tourism Service Company Limited believes that traditional culinary tourism will be an inevitable trend of Hoi An tourism in the coming years. This type of tourism not only helps tourists better understand the local culinary culture but also contributes to promoting the image of Hoi An to international friends.
“Touching heritage” with lanterns
Another experience tour in Hoi An that is also popular with international visitors is the lantern making experience tour. This tour was also listed by Tripadvisor in the top 10 most interesting Vietnam travel experiences in 2023 within the framework of the annual Travelers' Choice Best of the Best Awards.
Making lanterns with your own hands and listening to the story of the life cycle of bamboo and silk fabric captivated the emotions of visitors from Europe. In about an hour, visitors will be guided through the techniques of gluing and shaping lanterns to create a unique, beautiful product that can be brought home as a souvenir.
Mr. Pier - a tourist from Italy said, we have long been impressed when admiring the beautiful and profound pictures of this city in the light of lanterns. It is even more wonderful when coming here, everyone can experience how to make the lanterns that create the magical beauty of Hoi An.
Currently, Hoi An has about 40 families still making lanterns. During the peak tourist season, the facilities produce hundreds of lanterns every day. Especially, during the Lunar New Year, thousands of lanterns are produced, from small and pretty to larger than 1 meter depending on the needs of customers, with prices ranging from 100,000 VND to 1 million VND.
Many establishments are now focusing on linking production with designing experiential tours for tourists. With Hoi An joining the UNESCO Global Creative Cities Network in the field of crafts and folk arts, the creation of products and values related to lanterns will be given more attention.
According to Mr. Tran Ha - owner of Ha Linh lantern facility, the lantern making tour is not simply a tourist experience. It is a bridge between the past and the present, so that each visitor can contemplate the value of creating heritage and join hands in the message of preserving heritage for the future.
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/ve-hoi-an-hoc-nau-an-va-lam-long-den-3149062.html
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