The number of domestic and international visitors to Hanoi in the first eight months of 2023 was up 36.2% year-on-year, reaching 16.9 million, the Hanoi Department of Tourism reported.

Total tourism revenue reached VND61.6 trillion (US$2.56 billion), up 63.1% inter-annually.

Hanoi will host many festivals and events to lure tourists. Photos: Hoai Nam/ The Hanoi Times

The average accommodation occupancy rate across all categories was 61.4%, up 28.5% year-on-year.

In August, Hanoi received nearly 2.2 million visitors, an increase of 23.1% compared to the same period last year.

Among these arrivals, international tourists to Hanoi reached nearly 383,000, up 21.5% from the same period in 2022. Domestic arrivals increased by 12.5%, reaching about 1.8 million.

The Hanoi Tourism Department will organize events, programs and festivals to promote tourism in the city and attract tourists, said Dang Huong Giang, director of the Hanoi Tourism Department.

The Tourism Gift Festival 2023, to be held in October, will include a workshop on making tourism gifts at the Cultural Arts Center, and the Hanoi Tourism Gift Day, to be held on Tran Nhan Tong pedestrian street from October 6 to 8, among other activities. Visitors can learn how to make bamboo dragonflies and colorful gifts, experience coffee making and artistic flower arrangement at the above events.

She added that the department is currently preparing the Autumn Festival with the theme "Hanoi in Autumn - Come to Love" from September 29 to October 1 at Hoan Kiem Lake and surrounding areas in several districts and communes of the capital to promote the cultural and scenic beauty to visitors.

Other events include the Hanoi Cuisine Introduction Space from September 29 to October 1, the Hanoi Tourism Ao Dai Festival in October, and a series of specialized activities showcasing sports tourism products, entertainment and eco-tourism in Hanoi.

According to Giang, the department will develop waterway tours connecting tourist destinations along the Red River, starting from Chuong Duong Do Wharf (Hoan Kiem District), as well as tourist villages in Soc Son District, and establish a creative design center for handicraft villages and tourism.

Hanoi will develop more tourism products to attract visitors.

The city's Department of Tourism will strengthen the development of cooperative tourism programs with provinces and cities in the South, Central Highlands and Central regions by the end of 2023 to bring visitors to Hanoi.

In August, the department surveyed agritourism models in Danang City and the central provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue to build new tours to Hanoi.

"We are focusing on creating specific promotion plans for each market and target visitor," Giang said, adding, "We will have a separate promotion strategy for each market segment, including golf tourism, sports tourism, and resort tourism for the Northeast Asian market; cultural tourism, night tourism, and culinary tourism for North American and European travelers; and shopping tourism, festival tourism, and eco-tourism for domestic visitors."

In addition, the tourism industry will prioritize digital transformation in advertising destination, conduct promotional campaigns on the city's information portal and social media platforms, and launch promotional programs at major international travel fairs.

The city is expected to receive around 22 million visitors this year, representing a growth of 17.6% compared to 2022. Among these arrivals, the number of domestic tourists is estimated at 19 million, an increase of 10.5% compared to last year. The projected tourism revenue for the year is VND77 trillion (US$3.26 billion), a yearly increase of 28.2%.