HO CHI MINH CITY, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has been ranked one of the 10 best places to visit by the world's most popular travel guide, TripAdvisor, Vietnam News Agency reported Friday.
Iceland tops the list, followed by Greece, Mexico, Portugal and Morocco. Vietnam, which was named among the world's 20 fastest growing travel destinations in 2016, has overtaken its neighbor Thailand for the first time. Thailand came in the ninth, three places behind Vietnam.
Vietnam is loved by both local and foreign visitors for its natural beauty, cheap prices, vibrant nightlife and memorable travel experiences.
In April, TripAdvisor's readers also voted An Bang beach in Hoi An city, central Quang Nam province, as one of the 25 most picturesque beaches in Asia for a third year in a row.
In the first five months of this year, Vietnam hosted more than 6.7 million international arrivals, up 27.6 percent year-on-year, with the highest growth of 62.1 percent in the number of visitors from South Korea, followed by Finland, up 39.1 percent, and China, up 37 percent, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
Vietnam plans to receive 16-17 million foreign visitors and 78 million domestic ones, and gain tourism revenue of 27.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, said the administration.