Da Nang Downtown: A Landmark Befitting Vietnam’s Largest City

Post-Merger Challenges: Da Nang’s New Era

Da Nang is on the cusp of a historic growth opportunity as it merges with Quang Nam, becoming Vietnam’s largest city by area. This merger significantly expands its geographical reach and tourism resources, boasting three World Heritage Sites and strengths in coastal, cultural, spiritual, and mountain resort tourism. This creates a fresh tourism ecosystem with immense development potential.

However, alongside these exciting opportunities lie significant challenges. Experts highlight the most critical challenge as establishing a clear and unified brand identity for the “new Da Nang.” Without a well-defined branding strategy, the city’s diverse assets could potentially cancel each other out, diminishing Da Nang’s core tourism appeal.

To truly embrace its new status, Da Nang needs a new magnet, an internationally recognized icon that propels its entire tourism ecosystem forward. Mr. Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association, emphasizes, “Da Nang in this new era requires more catalytic projects. We need iconic projects with imagery that can be used for communication, to quickly reach new audiences and build a more modern, dynamic, and resource-rich Da Nang with unique tourism offerings.”

Furthermore, as Vietnam’s largest city, Da Nang must address its long-standing bottleneck: its night economy. Despite robust tourism growth, nighttime entertainment options remain limited, failing to match its international tourism hub aspirations. International tourists, particularly high-end leisure travelers, lack large-scale, all-in-one nightlife destinations operating throughout the night.

Da Nang’s night economy needs a boost to truly flourish. Photo: Duong Duc Khanh

In this context, the recently groundbreaking Da Nang Downtown project, a mega cultural, entertainment, and commercial complex by Sun Group, is expected to be a key solution for rebranding and revitalizing Da Nang’s nightlife. “The launch of Da Nang Downtown promises a new symbol for Da Nang, providing fresh momentum and new tourism infrastructure to meet the growing demands of domestic and international visitors,” Mr. Cao Tri Dung remarks.

Da Nang Downtown’s Unparalleled Advantages

With an investment of nearly VND 80 trillion and an architecturally unique design, Da Nang Downtown occupies a highly strategic location in the heart of Da Nang, along the Han River. This prime position, considered the city’s new heart, offers seamless connectivity to major transportation hubs. Residents and visitors will enjoy easy access to essential services, administrative centers, My Khe Beach, Da Nang Airport, Da Nang Railway Station, and the future International Financial Center.

Artist’s impression of the Da Nang Downtown complex. Photo: Sun Group

The project is also conveniently located near iconic city attractions like the Dragon Bridge, Cham Museum, Love Bridge, Children’s Palace, Tien Son Sports Arena, Marble Mountains, and lies on the Da Nang – Quang Nam – Hoi An tourism corridor, facilitating diverse travel experiences.

As the “heart of the heart,” Da Nang Downtown will offer the pinnacle of services, further enhanced by key projects like the “River of Light” artistic lighting project and the International Financial Center.

The complex’s centerpiece is a 69-story tower exceeding 400 meters in height, poised to become Vietnam’s second tallest building and a new architectural icon for the city. Beyond luxury accommodations and commercial spaces, this tower will create a new brand identity, elevating Da Nang’s position on the global tourism and trade map alongside cities renowned for their iconic skyscrapers.

Artist’s impression of the 69-story iconic tower. Photo: Sun Group

The project’s core strength lies in its internationally acclaimed “all-in-one” entertainment, hospitality, and shopping model, a pioneering concept in Vietnam. This model directly addresses the night economy challenge.

Similar to iconic nightlife destinations like Marina Bay Sands (Singapore) and Downtown Dubai (UAE), the project is meticulously planned for night tourism, offering diverse experiences. Visitors can enjoy world-class shopping, cultural immersion, and unique dining experiences: an international-standard shopping mall open late, a cultural entertainment park featuring a 9,000 m² theater with 4,000 seats, museums, exhibition centers, and open-air performances by world-renowned artists, complemented by fireworks displays, illuminating Da Nang’s night sky.

World-class performances will be a signature feature of Da Nang Downtown. Artist’s impression: Sun Group

This model will extend visitor stays, increase spending, and transform Da Nang’s nightlife from a supporting role to a key economic driver.

Mr. Ho Ky Minh, Vice Chairman of Da Nang People’s Committee, highlights the project’s significance: “Da Nang Downtown is a large-scale project with multifaceted impacts on the city’s development. Economically, it will introduce a major entertainment, commercial, and cultural hub, extending visitor stays, increasing spending, and boosting related service industries. In tourism, it will become a new landmark, diversifying offerings, reducing reliance on daytime activities, and enhancing competitiveness within the region. Socially, it’s expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs.”

With its comprehensive design, Da Nang Downtown is not just a leading entertainment complex but also embodies Da Nang’s post-merger aspirations. It symbolizes the city’s rise as Vietnam’s largest by area, establishing a new tourism icon befitting its stature.