Da Nang a top 10 holiday destination for Singaporeans

This is shown by data compiled by Kayak, a Singapore-based travel booking site that allows people to look for cheap flights and hotels for holidays.

The site named Da Nang among top 10 places of choice for Singaporean tourists in 2018, based on booking increases and travel trends in the first eight months of this year.  

Da Nang, home to Asia’s most beautiful My Khe Beach and a neighbor to the popular ancient town of Hoi An, was third on the list, followed by Indonesia’s Yogyakarta, Luzon Islands in the Philippines and Malaysia’s Kuching.

The Indonesian city of Bandung, surrounded by the lush green Parahyangan mountains, topped the list.

Along with China and the Republic of Korea (RoK), Singaporeans have been among the biggest groups of visitors to Da Nang in recent years.

Several new international flight routes have been launched to connect Da Nang with other Asian destinations, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and the RoK.

Apart from Da Nang’s long and beautiful beaches and natural landscape, Singaporeans are also lured by the open visa policy that facilitates travel.

Vietnam currently provides a reciprocal 30-day visa exemption for citizens of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Singapore.

Earlier, Singapore's Channel News Asia had included the central city in a list of five "under the radar" destinations in South and Southeast Asia..

Once a sleepy fishing town, Da Nang is now a major tourism destination.

Travel magazine Live and Invest Overseas, which calls itself “the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business,” voted Da Nang among world’s most livable cities earlier this year.

In the first seven months of this year, Da Nang received more than five million visitors, up 30% over the same period last year, according to the city's Tourism Department. More than 1.8 million were foreign arrivals, up 54%.