Ha Giang (VNA) – The northern highlands province of Haꦏ Giang has been named Asia's leading emerging destination,according to the Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Tran DucQuy.

At the World TravelAwards (WTA) 2023 held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 6, the northernmountainous province which is famous for its dangerousmountain passes beat nineother rivals to the honor, Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei, Flores in Indonesia,Koh Kood in Thailand, Melaka in Malaysia, Morioka and Okinawa in Japan, PhnomPenh in Cambodia, Sumba Island in Indonesia, and Taipei in Taiwan.   “Asia's leading emerging destination”is an important category in the WTA, focusing on evaluating related criteriasuch as environmental landscape, cultural identity, heritage values, security,safety, and civilised friendly people, and experiences. Being honored at the award known asthe "Oscar of the world tourism industry", Ha Giang's image has beenenhanced, affirming its important and solid position on the regional tourismmap, Quy said. The award is a clear testament to the efforts that the HaGiang tourism industry has made. According to the provincial official, the province has mobilised resources to develop its tourism, improvetourism linkages with other localities in Vietnam and promote its tourism ondigital platforms. According to the provincial Departmentof Culture, Sports and Tourism, the province attracted about 2.3 millionvisitors in 2022, and posted tourism revenue of over 4.5 trillion VND (187 million USD). In the first eight months of thisyear, it welcomed more than 1.9 million visitors including nearly 189,000international visitors. Total tourism revenue was estimated at nearly 4trillion VND. Ha Giang tourism has been developingin a sustainable way, turning the province into an attractive destination for domestic andinternational tourists and gradually becoming a key economic sector of theprovince. Ha Giang is an old land, home to morethan 20 ethnic groups, the Mong, Tay, Dao, Nung, and Giay, who have their owntraditional culture, lifestyle and customs, plus exciting festivals forvisitors and researchers. The region embraces many historicalrelics and majestic landscapes, such as the Heaven Gate, the Quan Ba double mountains inQuan Ba district; the Mong King’s Vuong Palace, the Lung Cu National Flag Polein Dong Van district; the Ma Pi Leng Pass in Meo Vac district; and picturesque terraced fields in Hoang Su Phi, and more. They attract many visitors tocome for fun or for research. In 2010, the Dong Van Karst Plateau inDong Van district was officially recognised by UNESCO as a global karstgeo-park, the first of its kind in Vietnam and the second in Southeast Asia(after the Langkawi Park in Malaysia)./.