Đà Nẵng — The central city received an award for Asia’s Leading Festival and Event at the World Travel Awards ceremony for tourism at the InterContinental Đà Nẵng Sun Peninsula Resort on Saturday.

The city was recognised in a race against eight destinations including Bangkok, Bejing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macao, Seoul, Shanghai, and Singapore.

“It’s an honour for Đà Nẵng and its people after years of efforts in building the city into a safe and friendly tourism site in central Việt Nam,” vice chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Đặng Việt Dũng said at the gala dinner.

“We have long boosted the city as a destination for world events, and we will in the future in connection with UNESCO world heritage sites in Quảng Bình, Huế and Hội An,” he said.

At the gala dinner, the InterContinental Đà Nẵng Sun Peninsula Resort—situated 600m above sea level in the city—was awarded three titles: Asia’s Leading Luxury Resort, Việt Nam’s leading resort and Việt Nam’s leading spa resort, while Naman Retreat in the city was also given title as Asia’s Leading Retreat.

The National Flag carrier Vietnam Airlines won two titles – the Asia’s Leading Airline (Economy Class) and Asia’s Cultural Airline among the 24 awards given at the event with the participation of nearly 200 representatives from the world travel agencies, media and hospitality experts.

Đà Nẵng was the first city in Việt Nam, and the Southeast Asian region, to host a leg of the Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race. The symbol of the Ngũ Hành Sơn Mountain (Marble Mountain) and the city’s tourism logo, Fantastic City, travelled around the globe

The city has successfully organised the fifth Asian Beach Games early this month, and it continues to be a favourite rendezvous for annual international marathon the Ironman 70.3.   

As planned, Đà Nẵng will host the 2017 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) Summit and the annual Đà Nẵng International Fireworks Competition next year.  

The city hosted 4.6 million tourists, of which 1.25 million were foreigners, in 2015. — VNS