Vietnam falls in solo travel destination ranking

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam was well behind Thailand (12th), Singapore (21st), Malaysia (33rd), the Philippines (34th) and Indonesia (39th), according to the ranking compiled by American media company U.S. News & World Report.

Last year, Vietnam ranked 46th out of 73 destinations in the same report.

The rankings were based on a global survey of more than 17,000 people recording their perceptions on seven factors: culturally accessible, fun, friendly, pleasant climate, safe, scenic and approachable.

European countries fared best in solo travel, with Spain topping the list, followed by Italy and Greece.

Though Vietnam is very popular for its cheap food, beautiful natural landscape and low levels of violent crime and terrorist attacks, the country also left a bad impression among solo travelers for poor traffic safety and public waste management.

Vietnam opened its doors partially to foreign tourists with tour packages to specific destinations in November 2021, before fully opening up on March 15. However, it has stopped issuing multi-entry visas for three months or longer, and is only issuing 30-day, single entry visas at present.