HÀ NỘI — Viet Nam has not been only honoured with awards for its tourism industry, but also dozens of other international awards for work and tourist attractions in Sapa, Phú Quốc and Đà Nẵng.

The miracle is not unique

A little more than five years ago, InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort for the first time overcame serious candidates globally to win the World's Leading Luxury Resort, which was the most important category at the 2014 World Travel Awards (WTA).

News about the "Oscar of tourism" for this luxury resort by Sun Group has made the whole world look back at Việt Nam, which is known only for poverty and war.

Đà Nẵng was named in the list of destinations for the rich, tycoons and politicians globally with a luxurious resort in Sơn Trà Peninsula, which maintained its "crown" position at the WTA and became the only resort in the world to receive this prestigious award for four consecutive years.

Last month, InterContinental Danang continued to be honoured by the WTA in Asia - Oceania in five important award categories, including: the most luxurious resort in Asia, Asia's most eco-friendly resort, Asia's most luxurious wedding resort, Asia’s most luxurious Villa in resort, and the most luxurious resort in Việt Nam.

It is hard to imagine the time when architect ‘wizard’ Bill Bensley built this masterpiece, whether he ever imagined the ‘rain’ of awards given to this work. But one thing is certain that the Sun Group persisted for years to invite Bill Bensley to design InterContinental Danang, where they believed that the rich world will come to Việt Nam and admire in front of nature and even this masterpiece, which they may not think Vietnamese people can build.

Glorious in the international arena

After the award of the InterContinential Danang, Việt Nam’s tourism industry seemed to wake up. Luxury hotels and resorts are no longer a rarity in the S-shaped country. The world-class entertainment complexes, that Vietnamese people had to go abroad to experience, now have been recognised as the top destination.

October 12, 2019 is a memorable milestone with not only hotels and resorts of big corporations such as Sun Group, Vingroup and travel businesses such as Viettravel but also the entire tourism industry in Việt Nam as they received many awards for their projects in Việt Nam.

Four awards are awarded by Asia Travel Asia - Oceania for Viet Nam’s tourism, including Asia’s top destinations 2019, Asia's leading cuisine destinations 2019, Asia's top cultural destinations 2019, and Hội An awarded the title of Asia's leading cultural city destination 2019.

Nine other awards were also given to Vinpearl resorts of Vingroup. Meanwhile, Vietravel Tourism Joint Stock Company received three awards including Asia's Leading Tour Operator 2019, Việt Nam’s Leading Tour Operator 2019 and Việt Nam’s Leading Travel Company 2019.

Twelve of Sun Group's projects of hotels, resorts and airports have been honoured by both the World Travel Awards (WTA) in Asia - Oceania region in Phú Quốc and World Luxury Hotel Awards (WLHA) 2019 in Rovaniemi, Finland, including Hotel De La Coupole–MGallery in Sa Pa, the northern province of Lào Cai and JW Marriott Phú Quốc Emerald Bay, in addition to Mercure Danang French Village Bana Hills, Premier Village Danang Resort Managed by AccorHotels and Premier Village Phú Quốc.

The most surprising thing in the WTA ceremony is that Sun Group's Vân Đồn Airport was awarded the Asia's Leading New Airport award. Along with that, the two resorts Sun World Bà Nà Hills and Sun World Fansipan Legend of this group also won the Top theme park in Việt Nam and Việt Nam’s top attractive tourist destination, respectively.

From a destination that is only praised by backpackers for its beauty and cheap price, Việt Nam has become a premium destination of the world, with top luxury resorts. From a destination known as place for swimming, enjoying seafood, going fishing or hiking, visiting a village and going to a temple, international tourists now have seen Việt Nam as a new destination with a lot of interesting architecture including Golden Bridge and a theme park in Đà Nẵng.

A bright future has opened for Việt Nam’s tourism. The foundation for that future is efforts from corporations and private businesses which have devoted their career, passion and love to the country's tourism industry.