According to Hanoi Department of Tourism, the capital of Vietnam expect welcomes more than 23 million visitors, a year-on-year rise of 9 percent. In which, foreign visitors estimate near four million, a year-on-year rise of 23 percent.

Foreign visitors to Hanoi.

In addition, foreign visitors long stay foreign tourist to Hanoi estimates more than three million, a year-on-year rise of 22 percent. Meanwhile, domestic visitors estimate more than 18 million, a year-on-year rise of 6 percent, grossing revenue of more than VND70 trillion, up 15 percent from the same period last year.

In 2017, Hanoi was considered by many prestigious travel magazines inside and outside the country voted as a safe and attractive destination for tourists. In which, Hanoi has been named among the top 50 safe destinations for solo travelers by US-based news website Business Insider.

Meanwhile, according to the MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index 2017, Hanoi has been ranked 7th on a new list of the world’s fastest-growing tourism cities, with a 16.4 percent average annual growth rate in the 2009 - 2016 period.

Accordingly, to promotes Hanoi’s tourism, on 2016 December 22, the ceremony of signing a memorandum of propaganda cooperation with Cable News Network CNN (the US) in the period of 2017 - 2018 for promoting Hanoi`s image took place at Hanoi People`s Committee headquarters.

Under the deal, the US channel will help Hanoi produce 30-second promotion videos, 3 and 5 minutes reportages, as well as a 30-minute special programme. These programmes will be broadcast across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South Asia. There will also be categories specifically designated for Hanoi on cnn.com, in addition to advertising banners and stories published by CNN accounts on Facebook and Twitter; separate pages to introduce Hanoi such as "Hanoi - Vietnam's Heart", "My Hanoi" or "Hanoi in Angle" on CNN.com and posting on social networks and the banner advertisement.

In addition, Hanoi has organized many tourism programs, including Viet Nam International Travel Mart 2017 (VITM – 2017); Hanoi Exchange Programme for Culinary Culture…

Besides, Hanoi’s authorities plan to upgrade pedestrian streets and offer more facilities to upgrade the city’s image for locals and visitors. According to Vice Chairman of Hoan Kiem District People’s Committee, Dinh Hong Phong, the piloting of the pedestrian area from every Friday evening through to Sunday had proved popular. He claimed the number of tourists in the pedestrian area had increased, though how tourists were identified compared to locals was unexplained.

About 3,000 to 5,000 people visited the pedestrian streets during the day and 15,000 to 20,000 people at night. The number of visitors could be as high as 20,000 during special occasions. 268 shops serve these people./.

VNF/Hanoitimes