How Ba Na Hills Became a Tourist Magnet: Lessons from a Mountain’s Turnaround

In November 1901 a French expedition led by Captain Debay reached Mount Chua. The French later turned the cool‑climate peak into a hill station, finishing a road to the national highway in 1919 and building almost 240 villas for officials and wealthy residents.

War damage destroyed much of that early infrastructure, leaving Ba Na largely undeveloped for decades. In early 1997 the Da Nang government began reviving Ba Na as an ecotourism destination, but visitor numbers stayed low, reaching only about 30,000‑40,000 a year by 2009.

Access remained a major obstacle: reaching the summit required a winding 15‑kilometre mountain road with many sharp bends, and facilities at the top were basic.

On September 14, 2007 Ba Na Cable Car Service Joint Stock Company was created. The Ba Na‑Suoi Mo cable car began operating on March 25, 2009, providing a faster, smoother way to the summit and marking a turning point for the site.

A further boost arrived in 2018 when the Golden Bridge opened. The nearly 150‑metre bridge, supported by two giant stone hands, attracted worldwide media attention, featuring on CNN, BBC, The New York Times and other outlets.

Between 2009 and 2018 Ba Na visitor numbers grew more than 160‑fold, while Da Nang International Airport traffic rose from roughly two million to over 13.3 million passengers. The rapid increase in visitors coincided with the new cable car and the Golden Bridge.

The Ba Na story shows how adding convenient transport and creating iconic attractions can change a location’s image and help it become a key part of a region’s tourism growth, even though the data only show a correlation, not a direct cause.

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How Ba Na Hills Became a Tourist Magnet: Lessons from a Mountain’s Turnaround

How Ba Na Hills Became a Tourist Magnet: Lessons from a Mountain’s Turnaround

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