Nguyen Van Son, chairman of Hoi An City, reflects on tourism growth, heritage preservation and losing its coastline to resorts.
More than 25 years after being recognized as a UNESCO world cultural heritage, the city gets 2,000-5,000 visitors a day, and nearly 10,000 on weekends.
Tourism has enriched locals and become a major source of revenue for the city, as well as Quang Nam Province. VnExpress speaks with Son about the city’s journey so far and the challenges ahead.
How would you assess Hoi An’s transformation over the past 25 years since achieving world heritage status?
Over 25 years ago Hoi An was still a town, with poverty rates at 20-30%. Today poverty has been eradicated, with only policy-supported households – those without people able to work — remaining. Hoi An has made positive strides in various areas, including scenery, environment, heritage preservation, and quality of life.
The most important achievement is the complete preservation of the ancient town’s architecture. Once a heritage site on the brink of collapse, with deteriorating relics, it has now been restored and retains its value. Craft villages and folk arts have also been revitalized.
Hoi An has not only focused on preservation but also on leveraging its ecological, cultural and heritage values for tourism. Over the past 25 years Hoi An’s tourism industry has grown from just 500,000 – 700,000 visitors a year and just a few thousand dollars in ticket sales to 4.6 million visitors in 2024, with over 60% being international tourists.
What change are you most proud of?
What I am most proud of is Hoi An’s approach: for the community, based on the community, and serving the community. This is vital because poor management and exploitation will lead residents to resist or even reject the heritage.
A heritage site is best preserved and its value maximized when it benefits the people. For local authorities to govern, heritage must bring benefits to residents, improving their lives.
Hoi An has followed that path. Every policy and direction has been geared toward the people, relying on them to preserve and enhance the heritage. Local people have benefited the most through trading, leasing assets and operating businesses. Many have become wealthy.
Some homes worth VND50-100 billion (US$2 – 4 million) are now rented out, fetching owners around VND100 million ($3,800) a month. From relying on heritage houses to live, people have turned to conserving and restoring them. They also promote and maintain the cultural and traditional way of life in the ancient town.
What changes do you most regret?
In the early stages of tourism development, under an open-door investment policy, Hoi An attracted many businesses. This was necessary to grow tourism. However, we could not foresee the environmental and landscape impacts.
Hoi An allowed resorts to be built on the coast, occupying the beachfront and disrupting the character of fishing villages and the local way of life. These developments also destroyed coastal casuarina forests, accelerating erosion and causing damage to the shoreline. Now the government must invest in embankments to protect the coast.
