Gia Lai province in central Vietnam is about to get a serious international spotlight — and local officials are making the most of it. In early December, Quy Nhơn will host both the closing ceremony of Visit Vietnam Year – Gia Lai 2026 and the APEC 2027 Informal Senior Officials' Meeting (ISOM), and the province is deliberately bundling the two into one long promotional push rather than treating them as separate events.
The closing ceremony of Visit Vietnam Year is set for the evening of December 6, with the ISOM running December 7-9 at the provincial Convention Centre. By stacking the events back to back, Gia Lai hopes to leverage the international delegations, government officials, businesses and media already in town to showcase the region — its landscapes, its culture, and increasingly its farm and food products.
That product angle is a big part of the plan. Alongside the usual heritage-and-beaches pitch, the province will put its coffee, OCOP (One Commune One Product) goods, farm produce and local cuisine in front of delegates, aiming for business matching and export connections as well as tourism buzz. Famtrip and presstrip programmes will bring travel firms, journalists and digital creators to survey routes around Quy Nhơn ward and nearby areas, and short sightseeing excursions for ISOM delegates are being studied.
Transport is getting a showcase too. An international cruise ship is expected at Quy Nhơn Port on December 4, and a charter train is booked to arrive at Dieu Tri Station on December 9 — a nod to Gia Lai's ambitions as a central Vietnam logistics hub that wants visitors arriving by sea and rail as well as air.
One notable venue switch: the Visit Vietnam Year closing ceremony will now happen in Quy Nhơn rather than the highland city of Pleiku, keeping the momentum in the same city as the APEC meeting. The ceremony itself will feature a semi-realistic production using lasers, projection mapping and drone lights, blending Central Highlands forest imagery with coastal colours and honouring the region's gong heritage.
So why should a traveller care? December looks like a moment when Quy Nhơn will be unusually lively — better events, new tour products, and lots of media attention on a coastal city that has long flown under the radar next to Da Nang and Nha Trang. If you like catching a destination before the crowds catch on, the months around this event window are a reasonable time to look. The province has also told tourism companies to roll out new tours, stimulus deals and higher service standards, so there may be competitive pricing on offer.
Practically, expect a busy city in early December, with roadworks, tightened security and fully booked hotels around the Convention Centre — so either lean into the festivities or travel just before or after the official dates. The wider province rewards a bit of effort: highland coffee country around Pleiku, gong culture, and quiet stretches of Quy Nhơn's coastline make it easy to combine a city break with something more rural.
