Hanoi (VNA) – The capital city of Hanoi is taking the initiativeto maintain its top position in Vietnam in attracting foreign tourists, withall indexes related to tourism rising compared with last year’s correspondingfigure.

The municipal Department of Tourism said onSeptember 11 the city welcomed an estimated nearly 20 million tourist arrivalsin the first nine months of this year, or a year-on-year rise of 9.2 percent.Of the total, foreign visitors are estimated at 4.3 million, up 20 percentyear-on-year, and accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total number offoreign tourists to Vietnam.

Foreign tourists to Hanoi come from nearly190 nations and territories, with China, the Republic of Korea and Japancontinuing to top the list.

Tourist attractions in the capital cityinclude the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Huong Son relic site, the Templeof Literature and the Culture-Tourism Village of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups.

Director of the municipal Department ofTourism Tran Duc Hai said the city has upgraded infrastructure and diversifiedtourism products to better serve tourists.

Recently, the Department debuted a new bilingual portal wheretourists can find all the information they need for a trip to the Vietnamesecapital.

The site //tourism.hanoi.gov.vn offers tourisminformation and services in Vietnamese and English and helps connect users withaccredited service providers.

The move is part of the department’s efforts to build Hanoiinto a safe, friendly and civilised tourist destination.

Earlier, a 2-million-USD deal between Hanoi and the UStelevision network CNN from 2017 – 2018 has spurred international touristarrivals to the capital city. TV commercials aired by CNN have been introducingthe best of the 1,000-year-old capital to people around the world since early2017.

In 2017, international tourist arrivals to the city wereestimated at 4.95 million, up 23 percent on year and 15 percent higher than itsyearly target. The number included 3.53 million accommodated visitors, anannual increase of 22 percent.

This year, Hanoi aims to welcome more than 25.4 milliontourists, including 5.5 million foreigners.

The city has also received high rankings and wide coverage byoverseas travel firms and magazines. The online marketplace and hospitalityservice Airbnb named the Vietnamese capital city among the world’s top 10intriguing travel destinations in 2018. Hanoi was also listed among the world’stop 13 destinations for international travellers in March based on a poll byreaders of the US-based Business Insider magazine.

Hanoi’s Old Quarter is a good place for visitors to spendtime roaming around, experiencing open-air eateries and hearing the noise ofwhizzing motorbikes, Business Insider said. Hoan Kiem Lake in the city’s centreprovides a peaceful respite from the frenzy, as do numerous Buddhist templesand pagodas, it added.

Last month, the UK’s weekly magazine Hello named Hanoi amongseven best backpacking destinations in Asia.

Ideal for travellers on a tight budget, Vietnam's capitalcity is one of the cheapest destinations for backpackers, the magazine said.

“Not only is accommodation and food remarkably affordable,but you’ll be spoiled for choice of things to see and do in the city, which hasa mix of Southeast Asian, Chinese and French influences,” the magazine wrote.

Apart from the many popular places like Hoan Kiem Lake, HaiBa Trung Temple and Hoa Lo Prison Museum, the magazine highlights a specialattraction – bia hoi (local draft beer). It notes that “backpackers often spendtheir evenings gathered at bia hoi bars across Hanoi, where you’ll find thecheapest beer in the world at around 25p a glass.” -VNA