“Like its industry, agriculture and diplomacy, its tourism is now firmly on the map,” the magazine commented.

The magazine quoted the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) as saying in the latest annual survey that Viet Nam moved up from sixth to fourth place in the league table of the world’s fastest-growing destinations. Last year it had 4.2 million foreign visitors, 16 percent more than in 2006. After the backpackers and a few nostalgic American war veterans, tourists with fatter wallets are now arriving in large numbers.

A fair chunk of the foreign investment currently pouring into Vietnam is going into new hotels, resorts and golf courses, many aiming at the top end of the market, the magazine added.

It attributed the country’s attraction not only to endless stretching and untouched beaches, but also to ancient civilisations such as the vanished Hindu Champa culture; quaint tribal villages with wooden stilt-houses, colourful festivals and craftwork, historic cities and churches from French colonial times; war sites like the Cu Chi tunnels and the grisly but informative museum on the site of the My Lai massacre; and enormous potential for ecotourism, with many new species still being discovered in the remote forested mountains.

First of all, we have to mention Halong Bay – the King of all Vietnam holiday packages. Halong Bay has twice been recognized as world natural heritage by UNESCO. The first time was in 1994 for its beauty landscapes. The second time was in 2000 for Halong bay’s geology formation. Magnificent Halong bay is One of 7 must-visit places on the earth. Over 3000 unshaped big and tiny limestoned islands rising from the emerald waters on an area of 1553 sq km create amazing picture. This magical landscape of limestone islands has made many tourists change their minds to stay longer. Discover amazing Halong with ultimate luxurious Halong Bay cruises, remember all your life. Halong Bay’s stunning scenery and the luxury comfort of Halong Bay cruises will take you to a paradise on earth that you have not thought before. All most tourists to Vietnam have said that “come to Vietnam without seeing Halong Bay means you have not been to Vietnam”.

Second position next to Halong bay is stunning Sapa – the Queen of all Vietnam holiday packages. Sapa is in the north west of Vietnam close to Chinese border and about 340 km north west of Hanoi. Sapa town is located at the altitude of about 1600m and dominated by Hoang Lien Son range of mountains with the highest mountain of Indochina(Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) Fansifan 3143 m above the sea level. Probably, no other place in the world could compare to the spectacular scenery of Sapa and its terraced paddy fields formed by multi minority groups near thousand years ago. Besides the natural beauty, you have chances to discover different cultures of 7 colorful ethnic groups living here.

The third is charming and romantic Hanoi, one of the highlights for Vietnam holiday packages. Throughout the thousand years of its eventful history, marked by destruction, wars and natural calamities, Hanoi still preserves many ancient architectural works including the Old Quarter known as 36 commercial streets and over 600 pagodas and temples. Hanoi’s famous sites include the One Pillar Pagoda (built in 1049), the Temple of Literature – first university in Vietnam (built in 1070) with 82 doctor steles which were chosen as UNESCO world heritage for ancient education document, Hanoi Citadel, Hanoi Opera House, President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum…Hanoi also characteristically contains 18 beautiful natural lakes such as Hoan Kiem Lake, West Lake, Thien Quang lake, Bay Mau lake and Truc Bach Lake…, which are the lungs of the city, with their surrounding gardens and trees where you can join morning or afternoon exercise and Tai Chi practice everyday.