Ban Co Peak: Vietnamese tea in the footsteps of Bill Gates

Da Nang has officially launched a tea-tasting tour at Ban Co Peak in Son Tra Peninsular, a site linked to a visit by billionaire Bill Gates in March 2024. 

This new tourism product is not aimed at the mass market, but is tailored to a specific high-end customer segment: those seeking tranquility, culture, and a rare experience amid the natural surroundings of Son Tra.

A product born of a chance afternoon

On the morning of July 25, at Ban Co Peak, the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourist Beaches officially launched the tea-tasting tour, a product developed jointly with Suong Mai Thai Nguyen Tea JSC as part of a series of activities marking the 2026 Enjoy Da Nang Festival. 

The launch also falls under a pilot policy issued by the Da Nang People's Committee.

What set this launch apart was how it was staged. Instead of the usual platform and ribbon-cutting ceremony, the program ran from 5:30 to 7:30 in the morning, timed to the sunrise over the mountain peak, so that the first guests would experience the product first-hand rather than simply look on. 

A tea-opening ritual, a tea-brewing performance, and stories of Vietnamese tea culture were woven into the sunrise gathering amid Son Tra's mountains, sea, and clouds.

Nguyen Duc Vu, head of the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourist Beaches, said the tour will run during two fixed time slots -- early morning and early evening, outside regular visiting hours -- so visitors can take in the full sunrise or sunset in a tranquil setting.

But perhaps the most notable detail is the scale: each session welcomes no more than six guests. 

As Vu put it, the product is "not chasing quantity but focusing on quality," aimed squarely at the high-end segment.

The tea artisan behind the pot Bill Gates once sipped from two years ago is Hoang Anh Suong, from Ha Noi. 

That encounter, in fact, was just one moment in the billionaire's four-day stay in Da Nang in March 2024, during which he and his girlfriend also played tennis and stayed at a secluded resort in Son Tra, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

But that single moment was enough to turn Ban Co Peak, once just a familiar viewpoint for locals, into a check-in spot that has since drawn crowds of domestic and international visitors.

The bigger bet: attracting luxury tourists

The tea-tasting tour at Ban Co is just one piece of a bigger picture Da Nang has been pursuing this summer.

According to the Vietnam News Agency, based on Booking.com accommodation-search data for trips between June 1 and August 31, 2026, Da Nang currently tops the list of the 10 domestic destinations most searched by Vietnamese travelers.

The city now operates 27 air routes, including 20 scheduled international routes, connecting it to key markets such as South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

The Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism forecasts that overnight visitor numbers this summer (June - August) will reach 6.2-6.5 million arrivals, up 23-27 percent year-on-year from 2025, with international arrivals estimated at over 2.5 million and occupancy at 4-5 star hotels expected to hit 75-80 percent, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Cao Tri Dung, chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association, said the city is leading the country in proactively rolling out demand-stimulus programs, announcing plans well ahead of time to stay ahead of the curve.

Notably, the tea-tasting tour was also designed around landscape preservation, without harming the environment or ecosystem of Son Tra, in keeping with the city's push toward green, sustainable tourism.

Against this backdrop, a tour that welcomes only six guests per session might seem to run counter to mass tourism's usual logic of "the more, the better." 

But that is exactly the point: Da Nang is turning a private moment enjoyed by Bill Gates into an invitation for a class of travelers willing to pay for exclusivity over quantity.