Vietnam has received multiple nominations at the annual 2019 World Travel Awards (WTA), a prestigious international awards program of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.

Vietnam is among the countries nominated for the World’s Leading Destination, Culinary Destination and Cultural Destination awards.

This is the first time the Southeast Asian country’s rich cuisine has been honored in the World’s Leading Culinary Destination category.

“Although Vietnamese cuisine has been highly appreciated by tourists around the world, this is the first time it has received such recognition from a prestigious and world-class award like the World Travel Awards, nominated as a leading culinary destination in the globe,” a representative of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday.

The capital city of Hanoi and the central city of Da Nang are nominees of the World’s Leading City Destination and World's Leading Festival & Event Destination awards, respectively.

The Southeast Asian country’s famous Hoi An Ancient Town and the UNESCO-recognized Ha Long Bay get the nominations for the respective titles of World’s Leading Cultural City Destination and World's Leading Tourist Attraction.

Besides the above nominations, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism itself is also in the running for the World’s Leading Tourist Board award.

Vietnam was pronounced Asia's Leading Destination for the first time at the 2018 WTA.

This year’s awards ceremony for Asia-level winners will take place on Phu Quoc Island, off the southern Vietnamese province of Kien Giang on October 12, while the world’s awards ceremony will be held in Muscat, Oman in November.

Established in 1993, the World Travel Awards, dubbed the “Oscar of the travel industry” by the Wall Street Journal, has since been annually held to honor the best service providers in the fields of travel and tourism.

The awards are decided on by an international jury of hospitality experts, mainly form the World Travel and Tourism Council.

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