Vietnam named world’s leading heritage destination by WTA

Thứ Bảy, 30/11/2019, 18:18
Vietnam has been honored with world’s leading heritage destination award by World Travel Awards (WTA) for the first time, reaffirming the country's efforts to preserve cultural heritages and boost its status on global tourism map.

At the 26th World Travel Awards ceremony in Oman on November 28, Vietnam was honored with the very prestigious World's Leading Heritage Site 2019 award. The other five countries in contention for the award were Brazil, China, Egypt, Greece and Saudi Arabia.

Vietnam's Hoi An old town.

Throughout the year 2019, Vietnam and Vietnamese businesses obtained 20 awards in the World category and 36 awards in Asia category including Asia's Leading Destination 2019, Asia's Leading Culinary Destination 2019 and Asia's Leading Cultural Destination 2019.

The recognition of Vietnam as the world's leading heritage destination reaffirms the country's efforts to preserve cultural heritages and boost its status on global tourism map, the WTA stated.

Vietnam is home to eight world heritage sites recognized by UNESCO: the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, My Son Sanctuary, Hoi An ancient town and the Complex of Hue Monuments in central Vietnam; and Ha Long Bay, Trang An Landscape Complex, Thang Long Imperial Citadel and the Ho Dynasty Citadel in the northern region.

Statistics from the tourism administration showed that 12.9 million international visitors had arrived in Vietnam in the first nine months of 2019.

Founded in 1993, the World Travel Awards are designed to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. Hailed as “The Oscars of the Travel Industry” by the Wall Street Journal, the WTA brand is recognized globally as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence.

By Thien Minh