Vietnam has been ranked 10th among 2016 Culinary Hotspots for Solo Travelers by TourBar.com, a travel website and app.

It received 4.7 per cent of votes, while in Asia Thailand received 18.2 per cent and India 6 per cent, ranking them second and ninth, respectively.

Spain headed the list, with 19.6 per cent of votes, the UK was third with 14.8 per cent, then the US, Italy, Portugal, and Australia, with 13.5 per cent, 8.8 per cent, 7.4 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively.

In May the UK newspaper The Telegraph wrote that Hanoi was one of the world’s greatest cities for food after the US President Barack Obama and the famed chef Anthony Bourdain enjoyed a $6 “bun cha”; one of Vietnam’s most famous dishes, with grilled pork, rice noodles, spicy fish sauce, and vegetables.

The Telegraph also advised tourists to taste a wide range of other delicious local food, such as “pho tiu” noodles with a sweet and sour soup, pork and fish sauce; “banh mi”, a baguette filled with pate, cucumber, herbs, crispy onion and chili; and “com tam”, or broken rice with grilled pork, pork skin, egg and fish sauce. The Telegraph’s experts also suggest tourists to finish off their meal with a traditional egg coffee, or “ca phe trung” - a blend of coffee and egg whites with sugar and enjoyed hot or cold.

In the first five months of this year international tourists to Vietnam reached over 4 million, a 20 per cent increase year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). Tourists arriving by air totaled 3.29 million, up 22.2 per cent up, while 66,011 arrived by water, down 25.9 per cent, and 647,929 arrived overland, a 16.6 per cent increase.

Tourists from the EU, the Americas, and Asia all increased in number. Those from the Americas totaled 328,851, up 11.8 per cent compared to the same period last year, with US tourists totaling 245,557, up 14 per cent.

There was also a strong increase in the number of EU tourists, which were up 13.9 per cent year-on-year to 697,200. Russian tourists totaled 180,219, a 23.3 per cent increase, French tourists 112,294, up 13 per cent, UK tourists 112,100, up 24.4 per cent up, and German tourists 80,200, up 17.6 per cent.

Tourists from the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden reached 23,900, 21,897, and 21,408; increases of 21.8 per cent, 30.1 per cent and 26.5 per cent, respectively.

The number of Asian tourist grew the most, up 24 per cent to over 2.8 million and primarily from China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Tourists from China totaled over 1.01 million, up 44.4 per cent, South Korea 631,263 people, up 31.4 per cent, and Japan 301,700, up 11.7 per cent up. Those from Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore totaled 202,000, 163,500, 119,700, and 99,700, rising 15.2 per cent, 18.4 per cent, 37.7 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

The GSO also said that revenue from restaurant and catering services in the first five months was some VND158 trillion ($7.07 billion), a 6.2 per cent year-on-year increase. Revenue in Hanoi increased 6.8 per cent, Quang Ninh province 10.5 per cent, and Ho Chi Minh City 7.8 per cent.

Tourism revenue in the first five months was VND11.7 trillion ($524.16 million), a 6.7 per cent increase year-on-year. Revenue in Da Nang, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Hoa, and Hanoi increased 9.3 per cent, 7.7 per cent, 7 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.