Đà Nẵng has a perception problem. City tourism officials say foreign tour groups have been cancelling trips to central Vietnam's biggest beach city because international travellers have come to associate it with storms and flooding at this time of year.

Speaking at a quarterly press conference, Nguyễn Thị Thu Phương, deputy director of the city's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the image issue has been compounded by an administrative quirk. Last year, the former Quảng Nam Province — home to the UNESCO-listed old town of Hội An — was merged into Đà Nẵng City. Now, whenever flooding hits Hội An or surrounding districts, headlines name Đà Nẵng, even when the city itself is fine. That, she argued, has undermined the destination's marketing efforts.

Officials were quick to add context: the lull is largely seasonal. Nguyễn Đức Bình, director of the city's People's Committee Office, pointed out that visitor numbers always dip in October and November, when the rains arrive. The Hòai River running through Hội An can rise after heavy rain upstream, which inevitably disrupts sightseeing and boat trips. Long-time residents and traders in the old town treat the slowdown as routine — it happens every year, and it's happening in 2026 too.

The usual rebound comes in the run-up to Christmas and holds through New Year. Even so, Bình conceded that hotel occupancy and experience tours in Hội An have been softer than hoped this year, and said a fuller explanation would need to look at operator performance as well as weather. Workers on the ground echo the gloom, reporting slower trade than in recent years since the low season began.

There's still demand, though. Hội An's heritage conservation centre recorded 121,402 entry tickets sold between 6 September and 10 October, with roughly nine in ten bought by foreign visitors, generating about VNĐ14.1 billion in revenue.

For travellers, the takeaway is that a rainy-season trip to Hội An is a trade-off, not a write-off. Crowds are thinner, the lantern-lit old town is atmospheric even under grey skies, and prices tend to be kinder. But river levels can rise and outdoor plans may get washed out, so building flexibility into an itinerary — or shifting the trip to the dry months — is the smarter play. If you're set on sunshine, aim for the Christmas-to-New-Year window or beyond, when the city says business reliably picks up again.