The ancient quarter of Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam climbed one place to the 5th among the Top Ten Holiday Destinations, Hanoi climbed two places to the 6th among the Top Ten Cities for Shopping, while HCMC, together with Seoul and Taipei, placed the 10th in the Top Ten Cities for Business.

The rankings for a number of Vietnam’s major hotels and resorts also improved over last year’s poll. Sofitel Metropole Hanoi ranked the 2nd and Nam Hai Resort in Hoi An City came in the 9th among the Top 25 Leisure Hotels and Resorts. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Smart Travel Asia’s annual online poll collects people’s opinions about tourism destinations, aviation services, hotels and resorts.

Vietnam’s entry into several Top Ten lists marks growing improvement in its profile as a tourist destination.

The VNAT stated that the achievements were attributed to the country’s stimulus measures to recover the industry from the impacts of the global economic crisis and the A/H1N1 influenza epidemic.

The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam saw signs of recovery after steadily decreasing in the early part of the year. The agency reported that the country welcomed almost 315,000 foreign arrivals in August, a 16% increase over July.

Nguyen Thanh Vuong, Deputy Director of Department of Travel Market under Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said Vietnam’s participation in the four-day even aims to promote the country’s image to potential markets, seek new partners and contracts and introduce Vietnam’s preferential policies on investment in the tourism sector.

The WTM 2009 is expected to attract 50,000 visitors and companies from about 200 countries and regions worldwide.

On display are over 120 ancient artifacts from famous civilisations like Dong Son, Sa Huynh, Phu Nam, Champa and from the Tran and Le dynasties including ritual bronzes, fine gold jewelry, terra cotta burial wares, Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, and ornaments made of gold, lapis lazuli and crystal.

The artifacts, some of which date back to the first millennium B.C., are on loan from leading Vietnamese museums.

According to John Nguyen, a museum official, the exhibition gives Vietnamese–American kids a good opportunity to learn more about their home country.

The exhibition is designed to introduce ancient Vietnamese culture and draw comparisons between Vietnamese artifacts and Indian, Chinese, South Korean, and Cambodian artifacts at the museum.

The exhibition, co-organized by The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Asia Society in New York, will last until January 3, 2010.

The article noted that apart from its thousands of charming islands and beautiful caves, Halong Bay is also home to a wide biodiversity that includes eco-systems like mangrove forests, coral reefs and tropical forests.

The bay, which was twice recognised by UNESCO for its landscape and geological value, has advanced to the final stage of a campaign to vote for the world’s seven new natural wonders by the NewOpenWorld.

It currently ranks 4th out of the 28 successful landscapes in terms of votes.

Vietnam is making an effort to promote and preserve the bay in a bid to encourage the community, especially friends across the world to vote for it.