(VOVworld)-Despite economic difficulties, the Vietnamese tourism sector saw significant achievements last year, with foreign tourists totaling 6.8 million, up 14% from the previous year. In 2012, several foreign tourism magazines and organizations listed Vietnam as one of the world’s most attractive destinations.

Hue festival 2012

The Vietnamese hospitality sector observed last year as the National Tourism Year of North-central coastal regions - Hue with the theme “Heritage tourism”. Nearly 30 culture, sports and tourism events were held featuring the cultural identities of the north central region and Hue. Thua Thien - Hue province promoted its tourism trade mark with several traditional festivals including the 2012 Hue Festival, the Hue traditional craft festival, the Huyen Tran princess festival, and the lantern festival on the Perfume River. The province also developed several new tourist products by tapping into the potential of its beaches, lagoons, magnificent mountains, and rivers. As a result, the number of tourists visiting Hue increased 25% over 2011, earning nearly 1.8 trillion dong. Ngo Hoa, Vice Chairman of the Thua Thien - Hue Provincial People’s Committee says that this year, the province will continue organizing  festivals to attract tourists. “Hue is a Festival city, so based on our talent for organizing  festivals and the richness of local culture, we will organize even better folklore festivals and religious festivals and promote these festivals to make them popular with domestic and foreign tourists”, said Mr. Hoa.

Da nang city

Tourism activities in Da Nang, Binh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa province also attracted large numbers of Vietnamese and foreign tourists. Despite economic difficulties, Da Nang’s tourism sector maintained its growth with more than 2.6 million visitors, up 12% from the previous year. This growth demonstrated the effectiveness of the city’s measures to promote its image. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Tourism Administration says: “Da Nang attracted a lot of tourists last year thanks to its efforts to promote the city’s image and to develop new tourist products. Meanwhile, there were several international events held in Khanh Hoa province. A fair of the International Sea Festival will be held in Khanh Hoa province in 2013 for the first time. Previously, yacht races were held during the festival. This year, the festival will feature an international trade fair and other events organized by the Vietnam Tourism Association. Preparations for the festival are underway in Khanh Hoa province”.

Binh Thuan’s tourism sector had a successful year in 2012, welcoming more than 3.1 million visitors, up 11.1% from 2011. Tourists from Russia led in number of visits, average length of visit, and money spent. Nikolav Surkov, a Russian visiting in Binh Thuan province says: “I’m very interested in staying here because the beach is just 10 m away. I can sunbathe the whole day. I have had several fresh seafood dishes and the fruits are excellent. I’m very impressed with the architectural complexes of the Cham people. I will definitely return to the province with my family”.

Last year, Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province was officially recognized as a New Wonder of the World, enhancing the site’s international prestige and bringing more tourists to the province. Trinh Dang Thanh, Vice Director of Quang Ninh province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism says: “We will continue promoting our tourism trade mark and improving the quality of our tourist products to attract more tourists to Ha Long Bay and Vietnam. To this end, we will strengthen the training of our tour guides to teach them more about culture and improve their foreign language skills. We aim to enhance tourists’ impression of Ha Long Bay by introducing local culinary culture and unique tourist products”.

Ha Long Bay

Last year, three hotels in Vietnam were listed among the world’s top hotels. Travel and Leisure, the tourism magazine with the largest circulation in the world, listed the Nam Hai hotel in Hoi An, the Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi, and the Park Hyatt in Sai Gon on its “T+L 500”. The US Tourism Association announced that Vietnam tops the list of the most popular travel destinations in 2012. The Huffingon Post’s Facebook survey named Vietnam one of the world’s 10 best destinations. Despite economic difficulties, Vietnam’s tourism sector gained major achievements last year and the revenues of 160 trillion dong proved the sector’s value to the Vietnamese economy.

Lan Anh