With 5,300 visits, nearly 100 exhibition booths and more than 40 specialist sessions, HORECFEX Vietnam 2026 turned Da Nang into a concentrated portrait of hospitality in transition. Across two days, technology, sustainability, supply and human expertise converged around one question: what should the industry become next for Vietnam and beyond?
For two days at Ariyana Convention Centre Da Nang, HORECFEX Vietnam 2026 offered something more revealing than a conventional trade gathering. It showed an industry negotiating its next phase in real time.
Held on 20–21 August under the theme “Everything You Need – Knowledge, Technology, Supply and Connection,” the event brought together hotel operators, restaurateurs, suppliers, technology companies, investors, startups and hospitality professionals across a programme designed around application rather than spectacle.
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That distinction mattered. Artificial intelligence, service robots, smart-room systems, facial recognition, immersive technology and digital platforms appeared throughout the event, but the strongest conversations were not about novelty. They centred on readiness: whether businesses have the systems, people and strategic clarity to turn new tools into better decisions, leaner operations and more relevant guest experiences.
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The exhibition floor made that question tangible. Nearly 100 booths connected operational needs with solutions spanning F&B, housekeeping, equipment, interiors, wellness, energy and technology. Around them, B2B meetings and professional exchanges created the possibility for a demonstration to become a pilot, a conversation to become a partnership, or a young company to find its first serious hospitality client.
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Beyond operations, HORECFEX also widened the role technology can play in destination experience. The six-minute projection mapping presentation “Touch the Liveable City” transformed the event façade into a luminous narrative of Da Nang and Vietnamese culture. Its significance was not simply technical. It suggested how digital tools can animate architecture, heritage and public space, giving destinations new ways to tell their stories.
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Sustainability moved in a similarly practical direction with the announcement of the Da Nang Green Stay criteria for tourism accommodation. The message was clear: digital transformation and greener hospitality are no longer parallel conversations. Smarter buildings, better energy management and more efficient resource use increasingly belong to the same operating philosophy.
During the opening ceremony, the Vietnam Hotel Association recognised HORECFEX Vietnam as the country’s largest annual forum dedicated to applied technology in HORECA, reinforcing its ambition to become a recurring meeting point for the industry.
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The lasting impression, however, is not technological. Hospitality remains fundamentally human. AI, robotics, data and greener systems are tools. Their value ultimately depends on whether they allow businesses to operate with greater intelligence, destinations to tell richer stories and people to deliver more thoughtful experiences.
The 5,300 visits may define the scale of HORECFEX Vietnam 2026. The more interesting measure will be what continues after the lights, screens and booths are gone.