Hanoi to install more free Wi-Fi hotspots to boost tourism

	Free wifi at festival spots in major cities
	Hanoi to provide free Wi-Fi services
	Pilgrims to Huong pagoda to get free Wi-fi

A view of West Lake. Photo metrip.vn

Tourists and local residents in four districts and one town of Hanoi will soon be able to get connected as the capital city plans to install more free Wi-Fi transmitters.

In a document sent to relevant authorities, the municipal Department of Information and Communication asked the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunication (VNPT) to install free public Wi-Fi systems at tourist spots in the urban districts of Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh and Tay Ho, the outlying district of Ha Dong, and Son Tay town, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The department has asked the Department of Tourism, the Department of Culture and Sports and local People's Committees to work with VNPT to ensure the progress of the work.

The move is aimed at materializing the municipal Party Committee’s resolution on tourism development in the 2016-2020 period and the following years. As such, free Wi-Fi will be provided at tourist places and at 80 percent of hotels and restaurants in the city.

Workers check the internet service at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. Photo: VNA

It also targets to contribute to speeding up the promotion of the capital's potential, tourist products, services, and tourist attractions; creating a beautiful Hanoi – the city of peace, safety and friendliness in foreigners’ eyes, according to Hanoi Times.

Previously, in 2017, the city started offering free Wi-Fi access around popular destinations such as Hoan Kiem Lake, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long historical site, Huong (Perfume) Pagoda and Bat Trang Ceramic Craft Village.

Hanoi isn’t the first city to be covered with free Wi-Fi. Tourist cities like Hoi An, Hue and Da Nang in the central region and Hai Phong and Ha Long in the north have been wireless since 2012, VnExpress said.

Hanoi aims to welcome 32 million tourists in 2020

Hanoi pedestrian streets (Photo VNA)

Hanoi hopes to raise the number of tourist arrivals by over 10 percent from last year to nearly 32 million in 2020, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.

In particular, it aims to attract more than 8.2 million foreigners and nearly 23.8 million domestic visitors this year, representing year-on-year increases of 17 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

The capital city also looks to earn VND 116.6 trillion – 120 trillion (USD 5 billion – 5.2 billion) from tourists, up 12.3 – 15.5 percent from the previous year, and have an average occupancy rate of 65 – 68 percent at local accommodation facilities.

However, due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the first seven months of 2020, Hanoi welcomed an estimated 6.13 million visitors, down 63.3 percent from a year earlier.

Of the amount, international arrivals were estimated at one million while the number of domestic tourists totaled 5.13 million. Revenue from tourism was VND 22.4 trillion (USD 969.2 million) in this seven-month period, Hanoi Times reported./.

In 2019, Hanoi received high evaluation of many international newspapers and magazines.

Notably, it ranked 15th among the world’s best 25 places selected by readers of the TripAdvisor website. The Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index gave the city the 15th position among the top 20 destinations in the region.

Besides, Hanoi was also named one of the world’s cheapest places for travel in the 2019 Backpacker Index by Price of Travel, the world’s largest database of travel costs./.

Tourist sites in Vietnam reopened but remaining Covid-19 preventive measures A series of provinces and cities have decided to resume tourism activities, reopen some touristic sites to receive travellers, however, they still strictly follow the ...

Hanoi capital to suspend all CNN tourism promotions Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung asked the Department of Tourism to negotiate with CNN, the US cable news network, for a halt of all tourism ...

In six months, Hanoi tourism grossing revenue of more than VND35.2 trillion According to reported of Hanoi Department of Tourism Foreign, tourist arrivals to Hanoi from the start of 2017 reached an estimated 11 million, a year-on-year ...