On December 28, 2012, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) in collaboration with the Vietnam Tourism Newspaper announced the top ten Vietnamese tourism events in 2012, as selected by tourism journalists.
The top ten tourism events in 2012 are listed as follows:
1. In 2012, Vietnam welcomed 6.847 million international visitors and 32.5 million domestic tourists, raking in total revenue of VND160 trillion.
In the face of domestic and global economic recession, the tourism sector fulfilled annual basic norms, which was a great success and a highlight in Vietnam’s socioeconomic development.
2. The National Tourism Year for the North Central Coastal Region - Hue 2012, featuring the theme of “Heritage Tourism”, included nearly 30 cultural, sports and tourism activities reflecting the culture of northern central coastal provinces, especially Hue City, in harmony with Vietnamese culture.
3. Ha Long Bay was recognised as one of the Seven New Natural Wonders of the World.
4. The International Tourism Expo - HCMC (ITE HCMC 2012) took place from September 13-15, 2012 in Ho Chi Minh City with the theme of “Four Countries, One Destination.” The event attracted 500 businesses from 30 countries across the world. After eight versions, ITE HCMC has become a professional international tourism event in the Mekong subregion.
5. The tourism sector selected the new logo and slogan for the period of 2012 - 2015. The logo is an “Opening Five-Petal Lotus” and the slogan is “Vietnam - Timeless Charm”.
6. Three Vietnamese hotels were named among the world's 500 best hotels.
7. Vietnam effectively organised a wide variety of programmes and events to promote and introduce Vietnamese tourism to key international markets, including WTM (England), ITB (Germany), MITT (Russia), JATA (Japan) and EXPO (South Korea). The activities contributed to increasing the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam in 2012.
8. The tourism sector focused on building western standard toilet systems in 50 percent of tourist areas.
9. Da Nang, Binh Thuan and Khanh Hoa became important tourist attraction highlights and drew a large number of visitors from the central region and across the country.
10. Top travel businesses and hotels in 2011 were honoured. 10 five-star, 10 four-star and 10 three-star hotels and two resorts, as well as 10 international and 10 domestic travel businesses, were presented the Vietnam Leading Tourism Business Award.
Giang Tu
Vietnamese
