The World Heritage site of Hoi An (Photo: VNA)Quang Nam (VNA) – The central province of Quang Nam held a ceremony in theancient port city of Hoi An on December 25 to welcome the 4.6 millionth foreignvisitor to the province in 2019.
The lucky tourist,Paul Oldham from the UK, was presented with flowers and gifts.
The event isamong activities to sum up the year 2019 of the local tourism sector, which wasa successful year as the sector won many international prizes.
Nearly 7.7 million touristsvisited the province, home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, in2019, up 18 percent from last year, including 4.6 million foreigners, anincrease of 21.05 percent year on year.
The top sourcemarkets of visitors to Quang Nam are the Republic of Korea, Australia, the UK,France, China, the US, Germany, Japan and Malaysia.
Last year, theWorld Heritage site of Hoi An was honoured by many prestigious tourismpublications in the world. The CNN selected Hoi An as one of the most beautifulold towns in Southeast Asia.
The small portcity also topped the list of the 15 most wonderful towns in the world.
The ancient town of Hoi An stillpreserves its cultural values as a busy trading port dating back 400 years.
The other World Heritage site inQuang Nam is the My Son Sanctuary, which is situated ina peaceful valley surrounded by mountains. The Sanctuary has been wellpreserved since it was built thousands of years ago during the prosperousdevelopment of the Champa Kingdom between the 4th and 13th centuries. The ruinsare now a popular destination because of their cultural relevance andarchitectural features.
Quang Nam is also home to the ChamIslands-Hoi An World Biosphere Reserve, which covers over 33,000ha includingHoi An. It has 1,500ha of tropical forests and 6,700ha of sea featuring a widerange of fauna and flora./.
VNA
