Changes in procuring and spending habits are steadily shaping a brand new economic system in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Huu Hanh / Tuoi Tre
The way of life economic system refers back to the a part of the economic system the place the selection of labor is pushed partly or wholly by a employee’s want for enjoyment slightly than remuneration, based on the Center for Economics and Business Research, an financial consultancy primarily based in London, United Kingdom.
It additionally means an economic system formed by folks’s way of life decisions slightly than simply their fundamental wants.
The way of life economic system presents a serious alternative for sustainable improvement and world integration.
After the brand new Ho Chi Minh City was fashioned by merging the outdated metropolis with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provinces in early July, the brand new metropolis’s GRDP is estimated at VND2.7 quadrillion (US$102.5 billion), positioning it as Vietnam’s first true megacity with financial energy corresponding to mid-sized ASEAN economies.
Local companies in know-how, tourism, trend, magnificence, and sports activities are embracing the life-style economy-driven pattern, providing more and more various and inventive experiences.
This mirrors the methods of main world cities, together with Tokyo, which blends conventional tradition with trendy know-how, Seoul leveraging Ok-pop, magnificence and digital retail, Bangkok with a deal with tapping a vibrant night-time economic system, and Singapore, which integrates way of life ideas into city planning via inexperienced areas and customized experiences.
Malaysia can be pursuing a lifestyle-driven development mannequin.
Under the ‘Visit Malaysia 2026’ marketing campaign, the authorities is selling wellness tourism, luxurious journey, gastronomy, and the ‘bleisure’ pattern – mixing enterprise and leisure.
With a price range of 700 million ringgit ($169 million), the nation goals to draw 47 million guests and generate 329 billion ringgit ($80 billion) in income.
Visitor Ai Nhu skilled the GMBB Mall in Kuala Lumpur, recognized for its cashier-free, contactless procuring atmosphere.
Shoppers scan QR codes to browse, pay, and obtain merchandise at residence.
This tech-driven mannequin, she stated, is one thing Ho Chi Minh City may be taught from.
Cities that mix cultural richness, novelty, and know-how have gotten magnets for curious vacationers keen to spend extra – a robust lesson for Ho Chi Minh City’s way of life economic system development journey.
Le Ngoc Mai, CEO at Unios Vietnam, stated that even fundamental merchandise like mild bulbs are being remodeled by way of life developments.
Once seen as easy consumables, they’re now designed to be aesthetic, mood-enhancing, and energy-rejuvenating – components particularly valued by youthful customers.
This shift reveals that even small home items can contribute to lifestyle-driven financial development.
Lifestyle impacts prospects’ spending. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre
Lifestyle experiences for the numerous, not the few
Thi Anh Dao, chief advertising and marketing officer at Masterise Group, informed Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that experiential merchandise presently boasts the quickest compound annual development charge.
Young customers have proven a 19-percent enhance in lifestyle-driven spending over the previous yr.
Their priorities are native id and inexperienced city areas, that are adopted by know-how, performance, and social connection.
As incomes rise in main cities like Ho Chi Minh City, specialists argue that high-quality residing shouldn’t be reserved for the ultra-rich.
Today’s premium choices mix design, service, and accessibility, bringing international-standard experiences to a wider inhabitants.
Experiences as new forex
At a luxurious condominium complicated in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Binh and his staff meticulously ready a lavish, flower-filled occasion.
As visitors entered, they have been greeted with inexperienced tech shows, easy jazz, connoisseur dishes crafted by famend cooks, and an environment designed to convey a refined, trendy way of life.
“These parties or workshops are the bridge to selling branded real estate,” Binh revealed.
In latest months, he and his companions have created areas the place potential patrons can be taught to craft perfumes or get pleasure from tea ceremonies with artisans – gentle approaches that enable purchasers to totally take in the life-style hooked up to high-end properties.
Each occasion can price from a whole bunch of thousands and thousands to a number of billion Vietnamese dong.
Yet these investments make sense when every branded residence is priced atVND20-70 billion ($758,850-2.7 million).
Buyers, with many from households which have lately constructed robust monetary foundations, are more and more looking for premium way of life experiences slightly than hard-sell transactions.
Even youthful purchasers usually convey kids and oldsters to get pleasure from these immersive actions.
Real property specialists agree that the market is shifting.
High-quality residing environments have gotten a brand new benchmark, changing outdated metrics corresponding to pure measurement or bodily options.
The pattern is evident: patrons are transferring from buying property to buying elevated residing experiences.
Mauro Gasparotti, senior director of Savills Hotels Southeast Asia, famous that demand for luxurious residences is rising as prosperous customers prioritize experiential residing.
With Vietnam’s lengthy shoreline, fast urbanization, and comparatively accessible luxurious property costs, the market may see important development.
Globally, round 700 branded residence tasks are already in operation, with 800 extra underneath improvement, an unprecedented surge.
Their attraction lies in international-standard design, premium providers, and steady asset worth, aligning completely with customers’ rising urge for food for high-quality experiences.