Foreign tourists stroll through the old town of Hội An, Đà Nẵng, October 20. — VNA/VNS Photo

ĐÀ NẴNG — Fears of storms and floods are partly behind a string of cancellations by large foreign tour groups bound for Đà Nẵng, officials said on Friday, as the city’s UNESCO-listed old town of Hội An is in the midst of a tourist lull.

Nguyễn Thị Thu Phương, deputy director of Đà Nẵng’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told a quarterly news conference that international travel markets have come to associate the city with severe weather at this time of year, leaving travellers reluctant to visit.

That association has grown stronger since the neighbouring former Quảng Nam Province, which included Hội An, was merged into Đà Nẵng City last year, she said.

Storm and flood reports from the former province now often carry Đà Nẵng’s name, undermining the city’s efforts to market itself to tourists.

Hội An, a UNESCO World Heritage site, became part of Đà Nẵng under the merger.

Nguyễn Đức Bình, director of the city's People’s Committee Office, said the dip was largely seasonal, noting that visitor numbers typically fluctuate in October and November because of the weather.

"The rains usually begin in Hội An in October and November, and the Hòai River and surrounding areas can rise when there is heavy rain upstream. That inevitably affects sightseeing and visitors’ experiences," Bình said.

He said residents and business owners who have spent years in the old town would see the dip as normal, though traders elsewhere might find it unusual. The pattern, he added, has repeated for years and is not unique to 2026.

Tourism usually picks up ahead of Christmas and holds through the year-end holidays and New Year, he said. Even so, he acknowledged that hotel stays and experience tours in Hội An have been less lively than hoped this year.

He said a range of factors would need to be examined to fully explain the decline, including seasonality and the performance of tour operators.

On the ground, service workers said the old town has been quiet since the start of the low season and that business is noticeably slower than in recent years.

The old town sold 121,402 entry tickets between September 6 and October 10, about 91 per cent of them to foreign visitors, according to Hội An’s heritage conservation centre. Ticket revenue topped VNĐ14.1 billion (US$546 million). — VNS