A New Generation Must Bridge Hanoi's Past to Its Tourism Future

I fell in love with Hanoi’s cafe culture right away, and it wasn’t just because I’m a New Yorker addicted to coffee. Hanoi’s cozy and unique cafes were typically filled with teenagers and millennials hanging out at all hours of the day. One of my favorite things to do in the capital city of Vietnam was to sip an iced coconut coffee (the French may have brought coffee to Vietnam, but the Vietnamese perfected the drink in the form of iced coconut coffees, egg coffees, and Vietnamese coffees) in an adorable cafe, Xofa, and people watch over the top of my laptop screen. I’d watch teenage couples cozy up to one another as if they were doing something rebellious no one else had ever done before. I’d observe millennials studying intently and wonder for what they were preparing. I’d see friends laughing over some story being told in Vietnamese that I couldn’t understand. While I tried to imagine their life stories, what their upbringings were like, and what they hoped to do in the future, they all just looked eerily similar to me and my friends — sipping coffees while talking about our relationships, careers, families, and future goals. Outside of the cafe, someone was probably cooking meat right on the sidewalk. Motorbikes were probably zooming by with babies on board without helmets. People were probably yelling at each other. [caption id="attachment_303336" align="alignnone" width="600"] A woman cooks meat on the side of the street in Hanoi. Photographer: David April[/caption] But, in that cafe, the room was buzzing with the possibilities of and hope for the future. You see, Vietnam is still very much a developing country. While the economy is improving considerably and tourism is growing, Hanoi is still very much behind other comparable destinations in Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, the idiosyncrasies and incongruities of Hanoi, with its traumatic history, culture unlike any other, and proximity to other incredible parts of Vietnam like Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh, and Sa Pa, make it a perfect canvas for the development of a tourism industry that helps support and boost the overall economy. [caption id="attachment_303337" align="alignnone" width="600"] Ha Long Bay is an incredible destination within driving distance of and easily accessible from Hanoi.[/caption] However, in order for the city to ready itself for the future and develop itself as a thriving tourism destination, a change in mindset must occur. And that chang