Hanoi aims to welcome about 21.2 million tourists this year

Tourists at the One-pillar Pagoda in Hanoi

Hanoi plans to receive approximate 21.2 million tourists in 2016, up 6.95 percent from last year.

The figure includes 3.8 million foreigners and 17.4 million domestic tourists. Together, they are expected to generate more than 60 trillion VND (2.68 billion USD) for the municipal tourism sector, up 8.11 percent against last year.

To realise the targets, the city will boost tourism promotions and connection at home and abroad, with a focus on key markets such as France, the UK, Germany, the US, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Indonesia.

The sector will participate in the 15th annual meeting of the Council for Promoting Tourism in Asia (CPTA) and the Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO), while promoting bilateral cooperation programmes with CPTA member cities and organising travel fairs in foreign countries.

Hanoi came fourth on the list of the world’s top 25 travel destinations in the 2015 Travellers’ Choice Awards named by prestigious travel website TripAdvisor.

Lonely Planet, the world’s most popular travel guide, has listed the capital city and Ho Chi Minh City in the top 10 best-value destinations for 2016.

Both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City came second in the list as they were said to be in “that most magical of price brackets” for budget travellers. Foreign visitors only need around 20 USD per day for food, lodging and sightseeing in the two cities.

Vietnam’s two metropolises were also named among the top 5 best cities for low budget vacations in 2015 earlier this year by DrPrem, a renowned travel and tourism website.

The rankings were based on average daily expenditure on food, accommodation and transportation.-