Three Vietnam hotspots among 100 most visited cities

Colorful fireworks shows are seen on Saigon sky. Photo by Shutterstocks/HoangTuan

The three cities are respectively ranked 39th, 51st and 53rd in terms of international tourist arrivals in 2018.

The annual Top City Destinations Ranking report, compiled by the global business intelligence firm, notes that Saigon is expected to receive 5.8 million foreign visitors this year, up 5.9 percent against a year earlier.

It has overtaken some of world’s leading cities like Beijing (54th), Sydney (55th), Chiang Mai (64th), Kyoto (67th) and Melbourne (76th).

Hanoi will welcome an estimated 4.6 million visitors, while Ha Long, home to the world famous bay of the same name in north Vietnam, expects 4.4 million arrivals, up 8 percent and 12 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Foreign tourists walk around the Hanoi's Old Quarter. Photo by Shutterstocks/Minhhue

The Telegraph recently recommended Hanoi as an amazing food destination, while Ho Chi Minh City has cracked various lists of top destinations for solo and retiree travelers, including being named by priceoftravel.com as one of the cheapest cities for backpackers.

Both cities were also named among top 10 overnight business trip destinations in a recent report compiled by MasterCard.

In August, Hanoi and HCMC made it to the top 15 destinations in Asia in a ranking by the U.S. News. The ranking considered local prices, accessibility and the variety of attractions in each destination along with travelers’ feedback, and put Hanoi in 14th place followed by HCMC.

 

 

Three Vietnam hotspots among 100 most visited cities

Hanoi: Heart of Vietnam

In the Economist Intelligence Unit's recent ranking of the world’s most livable cities, Hanoi and HCMC were among the top five improvers.

According to the latest ranking from Euromonitor International, Hong Kong was the most visited city in the world with an estimated 30 million international tourists by the end of this year, benefiting from the Chinese outbound boom and strategic location with mainland China.

Major cities in the top 10 list this year are Bangkok, London, Singapore, Macau, Paris, Dubai, New York, Kuala Lumpur and Shenzhen.

In this year’s ranking, Asia has continued its rise. The region accounts for 41 out of the top 100 cities, up from 37 in 2012, notes Wouter Geerts, consultant for Euromonitor International.

Asia Pacific is the standout region that has driven change in the travel landscape and is expected to continue doing so in the coming decade, with Singapore overtaking London as the third most visited city in the world by 2025, making the podium fully Asian, the report says.