Foreign visitors to Hoa Lo Prison, a relic site in Hanoi. - Vietnam News/ANN
HANOI (Vietnam News/ANN): Hanoi recorded an estimated 24 million tourist arrivals this year, reflecting a remarkable annual increase of 27%, according to the municipal Tourism Department.
Among the total, foreign visitors reached 4 million, marking an impressive 266.7% year-on-year growth, while the remainders were domestic tourists, exhibiting a yearly rise of 16.3%.
The total tourism revenue was estimated at 87.65 trillion VND (US$3.65 billion), indicating a substantial 45.5% surge compared to the previous year.
Director of the department Dang Huong Giang highlighted the sector's focus on building tours and tourism products grounded in traditional cultural values, adding that the introduction of 15 enticing night tourism products also garnered positive feedback from tourists.
The department held various programmes to enhance its strengths in tourism products such as culinary, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), and health care tourism.
Foreign visitors walk on a street in Hanoi ahead of Christmas.- Vietnam News/ANN
In collaboration with districts, suburban areas and travel agencies, the sector offered new experiential tours that are linked with heritage and relic sites, as well as craft villages. River tourism products were also developed to connect tourist destinations along the Red and Duong Rivers, she said.
Also this year, Hanoi has been honoured by the World Travel Awards with several accolades, including "Leading City Destination in Asia", "Leading City Break Destination in Asia" and "Leading Tourist Board in Asia”.
The city also received its first-ever award as the "World's Best Golf Destination" from the World Golf Awards. It boasted 48 out of 103 Michelin Guide-selected restaurants, with three of them achieving Michelin one-star status.
According to TripAdvisor, Hanoi ranked 17th out of 25 renowned travel destinations and held the third position among the top 20 culinary destinations for food enthusiasts.
Giang revealed that next year, the city will strive to serve some 26.5 million tourists, up 10.4% annually. This includes 5 million foreign and 21.5 million domestic tourists, showing respective year-on-year rises of 25% and 7.5%.
The total revenue is projected to hike by 13.8% annually to roughly 99.77 trillion VND. - Vietnam News/ANN
