Condé Nast Traveler names Vietnam among 10 best countries

	5 epic travel experiences you can’t miss on your Vietnam trip
	Where to travel based on your zodiac sign
	Vietnam’s mountain range named in NatGeo’s list top places to travel in 2019

Vietnam was voted the 10th best country in the world this year by readers of the New York-based magazine Condé Nast Traveler.

The “The Best Countries in the World: 2019 Readers' Choice Awards” list also included the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Italy, Greece, Portugal, South Africa, Peru, and Sri Lanka.

A record 600,000 voters participated in the magazine’s 32nd annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey.

“While bustling metros Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hoi An are renowned for their vibrant street food, markets, and cultural offerings, head away from urban centers and you’ll find peaceful natural surroundings and sacred temples,” the magazine said.

“More than 2,000 miles of coastline holds to some of the best beaches in the world, while a countryside of undulating rice terraces and hills provides serenity away from the crowded, chaotic cities,” it described.

“Here, you’ll find architectural wonders as well — ancient imperial temples, forts, and tombs, which are in direct contrast to the hive-like buzz of scootered metropolis of Hanoi.”

The awards are based on the ratings and feedback of more than 600,000 readers.

Last month, Vietnam was honoured as Asia’s Leading Destination for the second year in a row, together with the Asia’s Leading Cultural Destination award at the 26th World Travel Awards (WTA).

Hoi An, a tourist city in the central province of Quang Nam and home to Hoi An Ancient Town – a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was named Asia's Leading Cultural City Destination at the award.

CNN voted Hanoi as one of the 10 places with best coffee in the world, while Bigseventravel included the city among the seven best places in Asia for solo travellers.

The city is ranked 15th among the top 20 Asia Pacific destinations, according to Mastercard’s Asia Pacific Destinations Index.

Hanoi welcomed more than 4.7 million foreign tourists in the first nine months of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 10.1 percent.

The capital city hosted a total 21.5 million visitors in the period, up 9.5 percent against the same period last year and 74.46 percent of this year’s plan. There were more than 16.8 million domestic holidaymakers, up 9.3 percent year-on-year.

Tourism revenue of the city reached 74.7 trillion VND (3.2 billion USD) in the nine months, up 30.9 percent and nearing 72 percent of the yearly plan./.

VNA