With Valentine’s Day approaching, Hoi An ancient town in central Quang Nam province - a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site - was ranked ninth on a list from CNN of 13 ideal places for couples to visit.

A corner of Hoi An Town. Photo: baoxaydung.com.vn

Among the 12 other destinations were the Maldives, Tuscany in Italy, Kimberley Beach in Australia, a safari in Botswana, and Kyoto in Japan.

Hoi An was the only destination in Southeast Asia to find a place and joined Kyoto in representing Asia.

The ancient town is one of Vietnam’s most famous tourist destinations, welcoming 6.5 million visitors last year, an increase of 21.5 per cent against 2017. International visitors totaled 3.8 million visitors, up 36.58 per cent.

Revenue from sightseeing and tourist accommodation reached VND4.7 trillion ($203.2 million), an increase of 21.76 per cent against 2017. The top 10 source countries were South Korea, Australia, the UK, France, China, the US, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Hoi An also received many titles and awards last year, such as Top 15 most attractive cities in the world, Top 50 best destinations to visit in 2019 as voted on by renowned travel magazine Travel + Leisure, one of the ASEAN’s clean tourism cities by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, and, most recently, the “Sustainable Urban Development 2019” award from the German Government.

VN Economic Times