Hanoi (VNA)ꦐ – Hanoi is striving to build different types of tourism products and attractive destinations to lure tourists throughout four seasons of the year, according to Dang Huong Giang, Director of Hanoi’s Department of Tourism (DoT).

The city has attractive products that are in line with each season, aiming to draw tourists to come to experience and learn such as cultural tourism, ecotourism and MICE tourism(meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions), she said, adding that Hanoi has its own attraction. Tourist arrivals in Hanoi reached 12.33 million in the first six months of this year, up 42% from last year. Of the figures, international tourists accounted for 2.03 million, up seven times against the same period of last year. Total tourism revenue was expected to reach nearly 44.9 trillion VND (1.9 billion USD), representing a 74.3% growth compared to the corresponding period in 2022. The average occupancy rate of hotel rooms reached 61.1% in the reviewed period.

The city has carried out concerted solutions to promote socio-economic recovery in general and the tourism industry in particular, including expanding the operation of walking streets namely Trinh Cong Son, Thien Quang Lake and Son Tay ancient citadel.

♔ In addition to building new tourism products, Hanoi has also enhanced tourism routes to vicinities such as Bat Trang ceramics village, Huong pagoda, Tam Chuc - Trang An tourism complex, Son Tay - Ba Vi, Thach That - Quoc Oai, and Dong Anh - Soc Son.

To bring more experience for visitors, the city organised 127 free double-decker bus trips for 6,680 passengers during April 18-May 2 holiday. On June 6, three restaurants in Hanoi were awarded one Michelin star by the world's most prestigious food ranking organisation - the Michelin Guide, for the first time. This is considered an important milestone, promoting the culinary culture of Hanoi in particular and Vietnam in general, creating an attraction for foreign tourists. In the second half of this year, the DoT will coordinate with agencies and districts to organise 50 tourism promotion events in the capital such as Ao Dai and Gift Festivals, Giang said. It will also speed up digital transformation in destination introduction activities; deploying a variety of promotional campaigns on the city's portal and social networking platforms. The department will strengthen links with tourism associations and firms to implement effective tourism promotion programmes at major international tourism fairs, the official added. In the long term, the city's tourism industry will promote restructuring, ensuring comprehensive and sustainable development. Special attention will be paid to speed up thematic parks, high-class resorts and shopping centre projects as well as enhance the training of high-quality human resources to meet tourism demand in four seasons, she noted. Hanoi has moved up 20 places in the list of the Global Livability Index 2023 which was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The city has become one of the top 10 cities with the highest increase in rankings in 12 months, standing at 129 out of 172 cities in the rankings. The EIU's livability index ranks 173 cities in five categories, namely stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. According to EIU, with a history of over 1,000 years, Hanoi is integrating with the world with advanced means of transportation. It is also actively investing in transport infrastructure but still retains its ancient features. Hanoi is always an attractive and safe destination, leaving a deep impression on foreign tourists with its peaceful beauty and historical relics such as One Pillar Pagoda and Imperial Citadel of Thang Long and Duong Lam ancient village./.