It has been five years since Hanoi expanded its administrative
border. The capital city’s tourism sector has enjoyed positive changes
as it knows how to make full use of tourism advantages to attract more
visitors, both domestic and international.
The
number of foreign tourists coming to Hanoi jumped from 1.2 million
in 2008 to 2.1 million in 2012, while the number of domestic tourists
grew from 7 million to 12.3 million.
In the first
half of this year, despite a fall in the number of visitors to Vietnam
due to economic difficulties, Hanoi still welcomed more than one
million foreign arrivals, a year-on-year rise of 15 percent, and 7.3
million domestic visitors, up 8 percent.
Last
year, Hanoi was listed the sixth most attractive destination in Asia by
Smart Travel Asia, the region’s leading online travel magazine, and
second in a list of 100 international cities with good hotel services by
the well-known tourism website Trivago. Recently, the city also entered
TripAdvisor’s Top 25 Destinations in Asia, the world’s largest travel
website.
The achievements are attributable to
Hanoi’s efforts to exploit the tourism potential of the expanded area.
Besides renowned destinations like President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Van
Mieu (Temple of Literature), Thang Long Citadel, Hoan Kiem lake and
ancient streets, Hanoi has paid more attention to developing other
tourism sites, including Tan Da mountain in Ba Vi district, Duong Lam
old village in Son Tay district and Van Phuc silk village in Ha Dong
district.
The city has implemented measures to
ensure tourists’ safety and invested in upgrading Hanoi’s
traditional destinations, as well as improving the quality of tourism
products and services.
Hanoi has actively
promoted its image to visitors through tourism promotion programmes held
not only in Vietnam but also in foreign countries like Russia, the
US and the Republic of Korea.
In 2008, the
entire Ha Tay province, Me Linh district of Vinh Phuc province and four
communes of Hoa Binh province’s Luong Son district were incorporated
into Hanoi, making it the 17th largest capital city in the world with a
total area of more than 3,300 sq km.-VNA