More valuable than a recognition certificate, international awards continuously presented to Viet Nam's tourism sector in recent years have introduced to the world a new Viet Nam which is more classy and attractive with better service quality.

Internationally honoured

On the evening of November 27, 2020, in Moscow (Russia), the World Travel Awards – the Oscars of the world tourism industry – unveiled the 2020 winners in its World categories. Once again, Viet Nam won the "World's Leading Heritage Destination 2020” category after surpassing other nominees, namely Brazil, Egypt, Greece, Moscow (Russia), Porto and Northern Portugal, and Saudi Arabia.

In addition to the above award, Viet Nam was also handed many other awards, including travel, aviation, destinations, hotels and resorts, etc. Specifically, Sun World Ba Na Hills (Da Nang) of Sun Group was honoured with three awards: the World's Leading Iconic Tourist Attraction, World's Leading Iconic Tourist Bridge (for Golden Bridge) and World's Leading Cable Car Ride. Furthermore, Sun World Fansipan Legend, another product of Sun Group, won two awards, namely the World's Leading Cultural Tourist Attraction and World's Leading Natural Landscape Tourist Attraction. The group's Van Don Airport also won the World's Leading Regional Airport 2020. InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort was named as the World's Leading Green Resort. Last but not least, Vietravel was awarded the World's Leading Group Tour Operator 2020.

Golden Bridge of Sun World Ba Na Hills (Da Nang)

Previously, at the 2020 World Travel Awards (WTA) - Asia Region on November 3, Viet Nam enjoyed a big win with many awards including “Asia's Leading Conference Hotel 2020”, “Asia's Leading Airline - Economy Class” and “Asia's Leading Cultural Airline 2020” (Vietnam Airlines), “Asia's Leading Water Park 2020” (Aquatopia Water Park - Sun World Hon Thom Nature Park of Sun Group) and Vietnam's Leading Luxury Hotel (Hotel de la Coupole, MGallery Sa Pa), etc.

Hotel de la Coupole, MGallery Sa Pa (Lao Cai)

In recent years, Viet Nam has been continuously named in the list of world leading destinations voted by prestigious international organisations and awards such as the Reader Choice Awards (CNTraveller) or TripAdvisor. In October 2020, Viet Nam was ranked ninth in a list of the world's 20 favourite countries in 2020 voted by readers of CNTraveler. In early March 2020, five cities of the country were honoured by 2020 Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards: Best of the Best around the World. Specially, Da Nang and HCM City ranked seventh and 12th among the trending destinations, respectively; Ha Noi and Hoi An City were honoured with the 15th and 17th positions in the list of 25 popular destinations, respectively, while Phu Quoc was listed among the emerging destinations.

Previously, Viet Nam was only a destination known for its natural landscapes such as Ha Long Bay or Trang An, Son Doong. However, the country is now known as the world’s leading golf destination, the world’s leading luxury resort or the Golden Bridge with international recognition, etc. From a cheap destination to attract "backpackers", Viet Nam is now a destination for many famous billionaires and politicians. It has also become one of the ten countries with the fastest-growing tourism industry in the world from one destination expected to attract a few million international visitors annually.

Great value associated with the recognition certificate

On November 28, at the National Conference on Tourism 2020, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said: “Over the past few years, Viet Nam has achieved great breakthroughs in both quantity and quality. It is not easy to be ranked in the top ten countries with the fastest-growing tourism industry in the world. That’s evidence of quantity. In terms of quality, in addition to rising 13 places in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, Viet Nam has won many prestigious awards. I hear the news about this frequently and get very excited. In 2019, we won 20 awards, named as the world winner for golf and heritage tourism categories. There are many awards for our hotels and companies, etc., showing that our services have really good quality."

As conclusive evidence for the remarkable development of Viet Nam's tourism, affirming our very good service quality as the Deputy Prime Minister said, international awards and recognition are a bridge introducing the image of a new and attractive Viet Nam to international friends.

JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay (Phu Quoc)

Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director General of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, also said that: “These titles continue to affirm that Viet Nam is an attractive destination on the world tourism map. The National Administration of Tourism considers these titles as preeminent advantages in promoting the image of Vietnamese tourism in the world market."

In 2014, as reported by the US-based magazine Elite Daily, Viet Nam was ranked as one of the 10 cheapest travel countries in the world with spending less than US$20 per day. In 2019, this figure increased to US$96 per day. International arrivals in the 2015 - 2019 period increased by 2.3 times, from 7.9 to 18 million, while total revenue increased by 2.1 times, from VND355 trillion to VND755 trillion.

In 2018, the opening of the Golden Bridge attracted the attention of international media, making Da Nang tourism a global phenomenon. Two out of three guests arriving in the city checked-in at the Golden Bridge.

In 2019, after surveying hundreds of locations in 30 countries, an Indian billionaire couple decided to choose JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay to hold their “wedding of the century” which was just honoured at WTA with 4 award categories, including the World's Leading Luxury Island Resort & Villas 2018.

It is obvious that international awards for the tourism industry and works of Viet Nam – a country well-known for cheap price tourism – have much greater value than a recognition certificate.