Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has won an array of prestigious awards at the 31st World Travel Awards (WTA) 2024.

Vietnam was awarded Asia's leading destination, the leading heritage destination and the leading nature destination, while its capital Hanoi has been voted the leading city and leading city break destination.

The southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City also took the titles of Asia's Leading Business Travel Destination and Asia's Leading Festival & Event Destination.

This is the sixth time in the past seven years that Vietnam has been recognised as Asia's leading destination. Vietnam beat off many strong contenders to win, including China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka, to retain the prestigious title this year.

The capital continues to be recognised by the world awards, as a leading city destination and the best place to take a city break.

The titles were presented at an awards ceremony held in Manila, the Philippines, on September 3.

Meanwhile, the HCM City Department of Tourism has been honoured as Asia's Leading City Tourist Board, for the second time and Quang Nam Tourism won the title of Asia's Leading Regional Tourist Board.

Hoi An ancient town – the UNESCO World Heritage site – bagged the Asia’s Leading Culture City Destination award for the fifth time in a row, after winning the title in 2019, 21, 22 and 23. Vietnam’s 'green tourism gem' Moc Chau has been named as Asia's Leading Regional Nature Destination 2024.

Ha Giang, the northernmost province of the country, made its debut in the category of Asia's Leading Regional Cultural Destination 2024. Meanwhile, the province of Ha Nam has been recognised for the first time as Asia's Leading Emerging Tourism Destination 2024.

“It has been a privilege to host our first ceremony in the Philippines – a celebration that has served as a fitting showcase for this incredible destination and its historic capital Manila," Graham Cooke, founder of the WTA, said.

“Our winners are stellar examples of tourism excellence and I congratulate each and every one for helping to raise the collective benchmark across Asia and Oceania.”
For the sixth consecutive time since 2019, the Cuc Phupng National Park in the northern province of Ninh Binh has been honoured as Asia's leading national park 2024, by the WTA.

The Vietnamese park triumphed over several strong competitors worldwide, including Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park of Japan, Chitwan National Park of Nepal, Minnieriya National Park of Sri Lanka, Kinabalu and Taman Negara National Parks of Malaysia, as well as Cat Tien National Park of Vietnam, to win this year's title.

In addition, many well-known Vietnamese brands in the fields of hotels, resorts, airlines and travel agencies have also been honoured in various categories of WTA 2024.

The WTA, established in 1993 and often referred to as the Oscars of the travel world, is the premier global accolade in the tourism sector.

They say they serve to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel.

𒁃 Every year it recognises the leading companies and groups and regions in the industry, it has become a prestigious brand that honours outstanding achievements across all areas of travel and tourism./.