Da Nang Advances Digital Food Tourism with Culinary Maps, Smart Markets and Passport Programmes

Vietnam's coastal city of Da Nang has been building out a digital food tourism strategy throughout 2026, combining a new culinary map, smart market plans and visitor passport programmes to highlight the region's traditional cuisine. The Da Nang Culinary Digital Map was introduced in partnership with ShopeeFood during the Da Nang Food Tour Festival, held from 20 to 24 May 2026, which featured more than 200 food booths and a parade of over 70 street-food stalls. A separate, earlier city food tourism website had already identified around 400 selected dining establishments, vetted against criteria including authentic flavours, ingredient quality, service standards, food safety and sustainability. On 7 October 2026, city authorities reviewed a proposal to develop a wider digital food ecosystem covering traditional markets, the night-time economy and regional gastronomy. Cồn Market is a central part of this vision, with a proposed — though not yet confirmed — expansion to ten major traditional markets. A culinary passport programme has also been part of the city's toolkit: one initiative covered 50 selected venues, while a subsequent programme issued 10,000 physical and 10,000 digital passports, with digital registration through the TripC Da Nang application, running from September 2025 to March 2026. Regional food tours scheduled from May through December 2026 connect Da Nang with Hoi An, Dien Ban, Tam Ky and Dai Loc. City officials have stated the overall strategy aims to improve visitor convenience, support small businesses and protect the cultural identity of central Vietnamese cuisine.