Hanoi (VNA) – The culture, sports and tourism sector has made a number ofimportant achievements in 2019, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourismsaid at a regular press conference on January 3.

Theministry’s spokesperson Nguyen Thai Binh reported that during 2019, theministry has submitted to the Prime Minister for approval seven specialnational relics and 27 national treasures.

Inparticular, the Then singing practice of the Tay, Nung, and Thai ethnic groupshas been named in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Accordingto Binh, the dossiers on the Xoe dance of the Thai ethnic group and the traditionalpottery art Cham group are being compiled to seek UNESCO recognition.

He announced that the campaign “Allpeople unite to build cultural lifestyle” has created positive changes insocial life, contributing to the fulfillment of economic, cultural and social developmenttargets, security and national defence, social safety and order, povertyreduction, the building of new-style rural areas and the implementation ofgrassroots democracy regulations.

Ahighlight in the sport and physical training field was the country’s success invarious regional and international competitions. During the year, Vietnameseathletes brought home 587 gold, 428 silver and 468 bronze medals. At the 30th SEA Games, the Vietnamese team ended in second place among 11 participatingcountries, winning 98 gold, 85 silver and 105 bronze medals.

Itis noteworthy that the country’s U-22 team won the men’s football title for thefirst time in SEA Games history, while the women’s team earned their sixth SEAGames championship title.

Furthermore,the tourist industry recorded breakthrough results, welcoming a record 18million foreign visitors, up 16.2 percent from 2018. Vietnam has surpassedIndonesia to rank fourth in ASEAN in the number of international arrivals.

The country won four awards atthe World Travel Awards 2019, selected as the Top Destinations in Asia for the secondconsecutive year, the Top Gastronomic Destinations in Asia, and Top CulturalDestinations in Asia, while Hoi An ancient town won the title of “Asia’sLeading Cultural City Destination 2019”.

Vietnam continued to improve itsranking on the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) of the World EconomicForum, jumping up four places to the 63rd position in 2019 comparedto 2017./.