More attraction to keep tourists

In order to encourage the development and promotion of typical dishes of the mountain town of Pleiku associated with the introduction of local agricultural products, Pleiku City is urgently completing steps to organize a night food street.

Mr. Hoang Minh Nghia - Head of the Economic, Infrastructure and Urban Department of Pleiku City - said: "Implementing Plan No. 2700/KH-UBND dated November 17, 2022 of the Provincial People's Committee, the city has issued a plan to develop the night-time economy, including the content of forming a night-time culinary city.

Accordingly, the City People's Committee assigned the Department of Economy, Infrastructure and Urban Areas to coordinate with specialized agencies, the People's Committee of Dien Hong Ward and related units to synthesize the content, advise on the implementation of related procedures to soon put the Pleiku night food street on Nguyen Thien Thuat Street into operation in accordance with regulations. At the same time, the City People's Council also issued Resolution No. 406/NQ-HDND dated July 17, 2024 on the investment policy of the Project to renovate the technical infrastructure of the parking lot on Nguyen Thien Thuat - Tran Phu Street".

To form a night food city, Pleiku City invested 16.9 billion VND in infrastructure improvement and completion. Including items such as: asphalt concrete pavement of 5,800 m2 for parking lot on Nguyen Thien Thuat-Tran Phu street; 2 public toilets, 1 2-storey management house; mobile roof for business activities of about 1,600 m2; technical infrastructure, electricity, lighting; decorative gates and other items. At the same time, asphalt paving of Nguyen Thien Thuat street (from Le Lai street to Hoang Van Thu street) was carried out.

It is expected that by May 2025, the city will arrange and organize the booths in 2 phases. Specifically, phase 1 will arrange and organize 73 booths in the small bus station area on Nguyen Thien Thuat-Tran Phu street and divided into 2 areas.

Area A for food business has 54 stalls. In which, the traders equip themselves with mobile vehicles, tables and chairs according to the arranged positions. Mobile vehicles are designed with the same specifications and sizes; the design of images, logos with high aesthetics, eye-catching LED lights attract the attention and interest of all ages of customers to visit and enjoy the food.

Area B has 19 booths displaying and introducing OCOP products, typical agricultural products, and souvenirs. In phase 2, 20 booths will be arranged on Nguyen Thien Thuat Street (from Le Lai Street to Hoang Van Thu Street). These booths sell all kinds of clothes and shoes. Especially souvenirs, specialties, and handicraft products such as: baskets, gourds, wind chimes, stilt house models, or brocade products such as bags, wallets, shirts, dresses, etc.

Investing in building a night food street not only promotes economic development but also creates a difference, contributing to diversifying the mountain town's tourism products.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ha - Head of the City's Department of Culture and Information - commented: "In recent times, the city has always paid attention to tourism development. In addition to promoting the image of Pleiku and organizing cultural and sports events, the city also focuses on investing in perfecting tourism infrastructure to attract tourists.

Hopefully, the night food street will be a highlight of the city in exploiting and developing tourism in the coming time. At the same time, building the brand of Pleiku's night tourism products so that the mountain town is no longer a "sleeping" city as tourists have long said.

Fully exploit potential and strengths

Previously, every time the city lights up, the night market food court at the small bus station of Pleiku City begins to bustle on Hoang Van Thu, Nguyen Thien Thuat, Le Lai, Tran Phu streets. Not only is it a place where people stop by to eat a bowl of noodles or grilled meat skewers to warm their stomachs, but this place is also sought out by tourists to explore the night food culture. The image of the vegetable market, small bus station, and night food court in this area has been deeply imprinted in the subconscious of every resident of the mountain town. However, after 26 years of operation, this area has temporarily stopped for the purpose of rebuilding and building a night food street.

With an area of ​​over 6,000 m2, Pleiku night market is very suitable to be transformed into a night food street model. Here, there are food stalls, fruits, OCOP product introduction areas, typical agricultural products, souvenirs... will be a space for sightseeing, entertainment, shopping for locals and tourists, in line with the city's night-time economic development orientation.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Chau Sa - a household goods trader at the intersection of Nguyen Thien Thuat - Hoang Van Thu - shared: "Many traders are very excited and expect positive changes when the Pleiku night market is moved back to its old location. Since the market moved to the new location, business activities in this area have become sluggish.

Previously, we mainly sold wholesale to customers from the districts, but now there is no bus station, no more trucks to pick up goods at night, so we have lost many customers. Hopefully, after being invested in a spacious and modern night market area, it will bring a fresher look and attract people and tourists to visit and shop."

Meanwhile, Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Thao - Owner of the shop at 147 Hoang Van Thu Street also wants the night market to return to its old location. She shared: The night market operating right in the city center helps small traders do business more easily, especially those in the business lines serving transient customers. Since the market moved, the number of customers at my shop has decreased by about 50% compared to before. Although we open early from 4-5 pm every day to attract customers, revenue has not improved.

“The night market is about to reopen at its old location to meet the needs of urban development while ensuring environmental hygiene. This will not only help traders to do business stably but also contribute to turning Pleiku night market into an attractive destination, promoting tourism and local economic development,” Ms. Thao hopes.

To create a highlight for the night food street, Chairman of the Provincial Tourism Association Nguyen Tan Thanh proposed: “Building a night food street is considered one of the important solutions to increase attraction to tourists, create a diverse system of products and services, contributing to prolonging the length of stay and increasing tourists' spending.

However, it is necessary to choose the types of goods, services and cuisine that are unique to each other to help the model easily achieve effectiveness. If exploited properly, the night food street based on the existing advantages of the locality will promote strong growth in the tourism industry of Pleiku City in particular and Gia Lai Province in general.

To fully exploit the locality's strengths in building a night food street, Vice Chairwoman of the City People's Committee Hoang Thi Minh Binh said: Pleiku City is focusing on exploiting advantages to create a breakthrough in socio-economic development.

The construction of a night food street is considered one of the important solutions to stimulate nighttime consumption, especially tourists. In order to attract tourists to visit and shop at the night food street, the city plans to organize cultural and artistic activities every Saturday, Sunday or on holidays.

Along with that, select unique performances imbued with cultural identity such as organizing gong and xoang teams to interact with locals and tourists. If done well, the night economy will certainly be both a driving force for economic development and a boost for tourism development.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/pho-am-thuc-dem-dong-luc-de-du-lich-pleiku-phat-trien-post315671.html