In an article on countries applying smart transitions to maintain their tourism industries published on September 21, CNTraveler stated: “Vietnam was one of the first to impose a lockdown, keeping infection rates among the lowest in the world. Quarantine eased in May, but borders stayed shut through summer. To help offset losses to the US$32 billion tourism industry, the government launched Vietnamese People Travel in Vietnam, with airfares and rates at luxury resorts like the iconic Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi slashed by up to 50% in some cases.”
Meanwhile, CNTraveller (CNTraveler’s publication in the UK) ranked Vietnam at 13th among its selection of the 21 best holiday destinations for 2021.
Some attractive points of Vietnamese tourism were highlighted in the CNTraveller article, such as high-end resorts, the North-South railway and community-based tourism. CNTraveller suggested a “clutch of smart-but-unshowy stilted wooden villas” in the coastal enclave of Bai San Ho in Phu Yen Province – “one of the country’s most biodiverse regions.”
Writing about aspirational North-South railway travel, CNTraveller said: “Trundling through peaceful rice fields and winding along jagged coastlines that jut out as if they were broken teeth, the train offers free-flowing wine, a three-course supper and spa treatments.”
According to CNTraveller, visitors can also experience the community culture of the Muong ethnic group in Ngoc Son-Ngo Luong Nature Reserve in Hoa Binh Province.
Previously, CNTraveller also listed the train line linking Hanoi and the central city of Da Nang, operated by Vietnam’s Reunification Express, among the 10 best train journeys in the world.
The list was made by British journalist and travel writer Monisha Rajesh based on her book ‘Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure’. According to the author, starting in Hanoi, the (Thong Nhat) Reunification Express runs the length of the country right down to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, the finest segment being the first half of the journey to Da Nang.
This article was originally published in NDO
