In 2023, Vietnam hosted a number of tours by popular foreign artists. In March, the Korean band Super Junior returned to Vietnam for their World Tour Super Show 9 in Ho Chi Minh City, attracting 15,000 fans. In July, fans filled the venue in Hanoi of a two-day Vietnam tour by BlackPink and saw US recording star Charlie Puth at the 8WONDER music festival in Nha Trang city. The list also included Maroon 5, West Life, 911, and saxophone legend Kenny G.

That so many international stars came to Vietnam to perform points out the growing dynamism of Vietnam’s music industry. The success of these shows proved that local event organizers are up to the standard of big-ticket international entertainment tours. This is an important advantage for the music industry and a reason why it was one of the five cultural industries selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the focus of the “National Strategy for Cultural Development to 2030”.

“Now that Vietnam has successfully organized large-scale music concerts, there will certainly be many more, because foreign partners have been reassured that Vietnam can satisfy all their logistical and technical expectations,” Nguyen Quan Truong, a lecturer on event organization at Hanoi-based University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said.

Concerts featuring international stars are not only profitable but promote the image of Vietnam as a friendly, attractive tourist destination. These entertainment events are becoming a full-fledged industry that boosts both the tourism and service industries.

Vietnam is a country with a diverse and long-standing culture, with 8 sites recognized by UNESCO as World Cultural or Natural Heritage Sites and 14 cultural spaces recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity. These are a strong tourism draw.

Ha Van Sieu, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, said Vietnam’s diverse and unique cultural heritages are potentials for developing cultural tourism. “We must preserve and enhance heritage values and integrate them into tourism and industrial products and into activities and events that popularize Vietnam globally. What we need to do is promote Vietnam’s image and brands on par with its rich cultural heritages.”

Many travel agencies have recognized the tourism potential of culture and organized an array of cultural tourism tours.

“We have worked with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism to make full use of the cultural and historical values of the city in our products. For example, the “Sai Gon commandos” tour is designed for visitors to explore the revolutionary history of the city,” Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Deputy General Director of Sales for Vietluxtour Travel Joint Stock Company said.