Socio-economic experts believe Blackpink’s Hanoi concerts promoted the name of Vietnam to more people worldwide, and showed how prospective the local market is for upcoming arts and culture events.

Took place on July 29-30, marking the global sensation’s first-ever concert in Vietnam and the conclusion of their Born Pink world tour, Blackpink Hanoi concerts are believed by many beyond merely an entertainment event.

The show contributes in promoting the name of Vietnam to more people worldwide.

“The show set many records, including that of international attention for Vietnam,” communication expert Nguyen Dinh Thanh says. “This group [Blackpink] has tens of million fans worldwide who follow and get updated with its members’ activities.”

And because of that, he adds, that when Blackpink members mention Vietnam on their social media accounts or when the media reports about their whereabouts in the country, people all around the world know more about Vietnam and may want to visit, or hold future events in Vietnam.

General director Lee Weon Suk of Daehong Communications, a South Korean marketing solutions company, agrees with the idea, claiming that the image of Vietnam was promoted through the shows.

“The hotel that Blackpink stayed in Vietnam, the dishes that they enjoyed like banh mi, or the “See Tinh” dance that they performed,” he says. “Images about the girl group enjoying or showcasing Vietnamese cultural elements spread on the Internet and show the world Vietnam’s unique charms.”

These serve as promotions for Vietnam’s reputation to people in all corners of the world conducted by a celebrity that is considered a role model by many. Consequently, he gives a prediction that numerous people will visit Vietnam in the future to give what the group members enjoyed during their time in Vietnam a try.

The concerts also show global entertainment agencies how prospective the Vietnamese market is for upcoming arts and culture events.

According to Thanh, another record set by Blackpink’s two shows is the number of attendees. With an estimated 67,000 people attending the two-night show, quoted the Hanoi People’s Committee, the show has been the biggest music event ever held in Vietnam in terms of audiences.

As a manager at a company that bridges gaps to invite South Korean artists to Vietnam, Lee adds another insight that Vietnam’s potential in the eyes of the big international entertainment agencies is significant.

“I have never seen such a successful event [in Vietnam],” he says. “Even the South Korean media was impressed with the Vietnamese audience’s purchasing power, especially concert-goers that belong to the generation Z.”

With 67,000 people buying tickets that cost between VND1.2 million and VND9.8 million (around $51-$414), Lee says Blackpink Hanoi concerts have changed South Korean entertainment agencies’ prejudices about the Vietnamese audience’s low willingness to spend their money on entertainment and culture events.

“Big entertainment agencies in South Korea started to consider Vietnam a prospective and probably profitable market,” he says.

These views align with claims made by tourism expert Phan Dinh Hue, who says the event proves Vietnam’s capabilities in holding such international events, as well as political, economical, and social stability. These are the facets that event organizers often look at to decide whether they should and could hold their events in a market.

“Vietnam has proved to international relevant parties that the country was chosen to be a stop in the group’s world tour thanks to its strengths,” he says.

The show’s impact on tourism is another aspect that cannot be ignored.

Hue adds that the event boosted the tourism industry’s performances in the post-Covid scene, which was not as good as expected yet, when domestic travelers nationwide flocked to Hanoi to watch the shows and so did international tourists.

In fact, online travel booking platform booking.com recorded a 300% increase compared to the last year in the number of searches about accommodations in Hanoi in the seven days around the concerts between July 26 and August 1.

Vietnam, the U.S., Thailand, South Korea, and Australia were the five countries that had the highest numbers of residents searching for this.

There were an estimated 2.38 million visitors traveling to Hanoi throughout July, an increase of 21.4% compared to the same period last year. Most of them reportedly came for the Blackpink’s shows.

The Hanoi Department of Tourism announced Saturday that the city pocketed some VND630 billion, which came from tourists’ spendings, on two days of the concerts.

With the Tourism Authority of Thailand reporting that the same concert in Bangkok earlier this year helped the country attract from $20-30 million from tourists, as well as recent studies on the topic of music tourism, this is an opportunity that should be properly grabbed.

Because of these benefits, experts have suggested that Vietnamese authorities should be more flexible with their policies regarding arts and culture events involving foreign artists.

“Various authority bodies, including local departments of foreign affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and local departments of culture and information, are currently involved in the license application procedure for this kind of events,” Hue says.

He adds that Vietnamese authorities often request the event organizers to list detailed information about the event, which is sometimes considered a downside as organizers may want to keep it confidential.

In fact, Blackpink Hanoi concerts encountered a few challenges prior to the shows, including problems regarding royalties payment, which made observers even doubt the possibility of them happening.

To solve this challenge, Thanh suggests that authorities should form a specialized team that is in charge of assisting organizers of these events, especially those that can be considered once in a lifetime opportunities.

“Otherwise, we will lose the chance to hold such events to Thailand or Singapore,” he explains. “They are not the top markets [in the region] for arts and culture activities for no reason.”

He adds that setting up good relationships with international events organizers is a good solution, as they are the ones that will offer global artists which markets to hold their shows in.

These suggestions should probably be well thought about starting now, especially after the global girl group brought their world tour to Hanoi and made many good influences.

“Many marketers like us are planning to invite K-pop stars to Vietnam after seeing the impacts of Blackpink’s shows in Hanoi,” Lee reveals.

“Vietnam will be able to attract more events in the future, not limited to those organized by South Korean agencies only, but also global stars or big entertainment agencies from the U.S.”