Stemming from the spirit of exploring the uniqueness of the region, Renaissance Hotels - one of 30 hotel brands of the global Marriott Bonvoy group, officially announced the annual series of events "Global Discovery Day", taking place on May 18, 2023.
Global Day of Discovery takes place in Ho Chi Minh City on May 18, 2023, organized by Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon.
On this day, more than 170 Renaissance-branded hotels around the world will come together to offer elevated guest experiences, highlighting the unique way the brand creates unexpected discoveries that go beyond conventional travel conventions and initiatives.
“Today’s travelers are looking for a real connection with the local community and our hotels pride themselves on celebrating the unique culture of the communities where we operate. We will enhance the local culture with unique, creative moments that will surprise guests at every step of their journey to discover their destination,” said Alex Schoell, General Manager of Renaissance Riverside Saigon.
Tourists are excited to explore the beauty of Saigon through the double-decker bus experience.
The journey begins with a double-decker bus ride through familiar yet strange places in the city. The final destination of the trip will be the Nha Rang headquarters, where attendees will learn about the standard Vietnamese coffee processing process from planting, harvesting, processing and packaging. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the different flavors of coffee beans as well as how to enjoy a cup of "standard Vietnamese" coffee.
After a cozy lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, attendees will enjoy a Water Puppet show at the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre at the Zoo. This is an opportunity to bring a unique experience of this distinctive art form to international tourists as well as those who live in Saigon but have not had the opportunity to experience this cultural beauty.
Guests enjoy a water puppet show at the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre.
The highlight of the Discovery Day program is the exchange and participation in painting activities with young street artist Nguyen Tan Luc, also known as Cresk. Nguyen Tan Luc, also known as Cresk, has spent more than 10 years pursuing graffiti art.
Young artist Cresk shared in the program.
Ideas for his works are often exploited from ordinary everyday things with cultural themes and the spiritual beauty of Vietnamese people, especially Vietnamese women. “Graffiti is inherently free, liberal and not bound by any rules, just like my personality. I sympathize and easily absorb that spirit of graffiti. For me, creating becomes natural and unconstrained,” Luc shared.
In this art experience program, participants have the opportunity to "play the role" of artists who continue Cresk's work. Under the guidance of the young artist, everyone will continue to paint on completed works with acrylic paint. A beautiful and unique graffiti work, according to Cresk, is when many layers of color and strokes are built on top of each other. That is the free and liberal spirit of graffiti, also expressing the desire to "bring unexpected discoveries beyond the usual conventions" of the Global Day of Discovery program.
Dinner at Viet Kitchen restaurant - the highlight of the Global Day of Discovery program.
At the end of the day, attendees enjoyed a dinner party at the hotel’s Viet Kitchen restaurant. In addition to the unique regional food stalls spread across the map of Vietnam, attendees also got to explore unique mixed drinks in the spirit of the “Enjoy the evening at Renaissance” program, refined from typical Vietnamese ingredients such as guava leaves, passion fruit, and Dalat mulberry.
