Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi has been shortlisted for the World’s LeadingCity Destination at the 2019 World Travel Awards (WTA), providing an excellentopportunity for the Vietnamese capital to promote itself as a safe and friendlydestination for both domestic and foreign visitors.

The local tourism sector is calling for locals and tourists to vote for Hanoiat the WTA’s website //www.worldtravelawards.com/vote, which will end onOctober 20.

Popular places in Hanoi include Hoan Kiem Lake, the Old Quarter, Ho Chi MinhMausoleum, the Temple of Literature and Thang Long Imperial Citadel.

According to the municipal Department of Tourism, the number of foreignvisitors to Hanoi increased by approximately 19 percent between 2015 and 2018.They came from over 190 countries and territories in the world.

In 2018, Hanoi welcomed 26.31 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 10.4percent. International arrivals reached over 6 million, up 21.3 percent, thedepartment said.

In the first nine months of 2019, Hanoi served more than 21.5 millionvacationers, up 9.5 percent against the same period last year, including over4.7 million foreigners, up over 10 percent.

Tourists from Asian countries account for 60 percent of the internationalvisitors who arrive in Hanoi, followed by Europe at nearly 24 percent, Americaat 9 percent, Australia at 5.5 percent and Africa at 0.5 percent.

Nguyen Manh Than, Chairman of the Hanoi Tourism Association, said many foreignvisitors chose Hanoi to visit thanks to the beautiful natural landscapes, richculture, safety and hospitable locals.

In recent years, Hanoi has been hailed as one of the most attractivedestinations in the region and the world by prestigious internationalorganisations such as “Asia’s Leading Destination” and the “World’s LeadingDestination” in 2018.

In 2019, Hanoi won the Travelers’ Choice Awards and was ranked among the 25leading destinations in Asia, and the 25 world’s leading places on TripAdvisorwebsite.

CNN listed Hanoi along with Phu Quoc Island in the Mekong Delta province ofKien Giang as the best travel destinations in Asia in 2019.

Many highlights of Hanoi were recently listed in the CNN’s article suggesting13 memorable experiences for foreign visitors in Vietnam such as “search forthe best pho in Hanoi”, “make vermicelli noodles in Cu Da village”, and “ridethe Reunification Express (officially known as North-South Railway)”.

Most recently, Hanoi has been ranked fifth amongthe seven best places in Asia for solotravellers by Bigseventravel. 

The Italian tourism website described Hanoi as a hectic, crazyand often confusing city, and a wonderful base from which to explore thenorth of Vietnam, including the world natural heritage site of Ha Long Bayin the northeastern province of Quang Ninh and the popular resort town ofSa Pa in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.

According to Mastercard’s Asia Pacific Destinations Index, Hanoi ranked 15thamong the 20 leading destinations in the region. 

Given huge opportunities from the tourism sector, Hanoi has made significantinvestment in improving the quality of tourism products and services as well asdeveloping infrastructure and promoting the image of the capital to domesticand foreign visitors.

The city has coordinated with the CNN to promote its image through shortadvertising clips.

After completing the deal for 2018-2019, the capital has signed anothercontract with CNN for 2019-2024.

Advertising videos produced and broadcast by CNN such as “Hanoi-Cradle ofHeritage” and “Hanoi-Heart of Vietnam” have attracted a lot of foreign viewers.

Tran Duc Hai, Director of the municipal Tourism Department, said Hanoi is a memberof the Council for Promoting Tourism in Asia (CPTA) and Tourism PromotingOrganisation for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO).

The city has close cooperation ties with most major cities in Asia such asTokyo (Japan), Seoul (the Republic of Korea), Bangkok (Thailand) and KualaLumpur (Malaysia), as well as European cities like Paris (France), Moscow(Russia) and Frankfurt (Germany), he added./.