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Hanoi placed in world's top 20 fastest growing tourist destinations
Translated by Thu Minh 13:50, 2016/10/03
According to the 2016 Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index, Vietnam`s two largest cities of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi have been ranked in the top 20 fastest-growing destination for international visitors in the world, with at least 1 million visitors staying overnight.
Japan’s Osaka topped the list with visitors growing 24.15% a year thanks to arrivals from China and the Republic of Korea. Chengdu in China came second and followed by Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
 
International tourists visit Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi.
International tourists visit Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi. Photo by Hong Hanh
Hanoi ranked 13th on the global list with foreign arrivals growing on average 11.64% since 2009. HCM City ranked 18th with 9.22% annual growth.
Mastercard’s latest list shows the growing international significance of Asia, as seven of the 10 most-visited cities in the world are in the continent, with five of those of located in East or Southeast Asia.
Bangkok is the top-ranked destination city by international overnight visitor arrivals according to the annual Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index  released recently.
Hanoi and HCM City have been ranked in the world's top 20 fastest growing tourist destinations, according to a recent survey by MasterCard.
Hanoi and HCM City have been ranked in the world's top 20 fastest growing tourist destinations, according to a recent survey by MasterCard.
Bangkok is the world’s most popular destination and is expected to welcome over 21 million international overnight travelers this year.
Asia also dominates the list of fastest growing destinations, as each of the top 10 cities lies in the continent. Colombo, though, is the only city located in South Asia.
In the recent years, Bangkok and London have remained the first position in the Mastercard’s list.
Beside Bangkok, the South East Asia also has two other representatives in the top 10, while Singapore has recorded sixth with 12.11 million visitors and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur ranked seventh with 12.02 million passengers.
Ranking in the world's top destinations revealed since 2011, Mastercard collected data on passengers by airlines to and from 132 cities worldwide. In addition, the statistical report of the United Nations and the tourism organization have been also used to analyze and compare.
For the first time, the Index explores whether visitors travel for business or leisure as well as insights into how international visitors spend, including dining, lodging and shopping. 
The 2016 Index shows that among the top 20 cities, more people travel internationally for leisure, except to Shanghai. Visitors to the top 20 overwhelmingly spent more while shopping, as opposed to dining, except in Europe, where meals captured greater share of spend in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Istanbul, Milan, Paris, Prague and Vienna.
In the north, Hanoi has become a highly recommended travel destination with its thousand-year-old charm. The city has been named the cheapest destination in the TripIndex report for the past three years. The capital received nearly 1.2 million foreign arrivals in the first half of 2016.
In 2015, Lonely Planet named Hanoi’s Old Quarter among the places to see at least once in a lifetime, while the visual social network Pinterest ranked the capital the third most-pinned location of all time.
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