HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s capital city Hà Nội has been named among the top 25 destinations in the world in TripAdvisor’s annual Travelers’ Choice Awards.

The top Hanoian sights by the travel website include the Old Quarter, Vietnamese Women’s Museum and Việt Nam Museum of Ethnology.

“The charming Vietnamese capital has aged well, preserving the Old Quarter, monuments and colonial architecture, while making room for modern developments alongside,” the website said. 

“Hà Nội may have shrugged off several former names, including Thăng Long, or ‘ascending dragon’, but it hasn’t forgotten its past, as sites such as Hồ Chí Minh’s Mausoleum and Hỏa Lò Prison attest. Lakes, parks, shady boulevards and more than 600 temples and pagodas add to the appeal of this city, which is easily explored by taxi,” it said.

Among the 25 destinations, 11 are in Asia including Hà Nội (Việt Nam), Tokyo (Japan), Bali (Indonesia) and Phuket (Thailand). The top is London, capital of the UK. 

The winners were determined using an algorithm that analyses the millions of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions collected in a year from TripAdvisor travellers, according to dailymail.co.uk. 

“The global fascination with Harry and Meghan clearly has a powerful effect as this is the first time since 2016 that London has topped the world rankings. With the couple’s new baby due imminently, London may continue to reap the rewards of the Harry and Meghan effect into 2020,” said Hayley Coleman, the TripAdvisor spokesperson quoted by dailymail.co.uk.

Meanwhile, Hà Nội attracted an estimate of 7.5 million tourists in the first three months of 2019, a 10 per cent increase compared to last year, according to the city’s Department of Tourism. 

Among them, about 1.9 million were international tourists, a 15 per cent increase compared to last year. Total revenue from tourists in this period is expected to reach more than VNĐ26 trillion (US$1.1 billion), a 32 per cent increase compared to last year. — VNS