Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is honored in two categories at the 2026 World Travel Awards. Photo: Supplied
The award was presented at the 2026 World Travel Awards ceremony for Asia, Oceania and the Indian Ocean, held in the Maldives on Sunday.
Phong Nha-Ke Bang was also named Vietnam’s Leading Nature Destination 2026, Pham Hong Thai, director of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Management Board, said on Monday.
Thai said the two awards helped reaffirm the park’s appeal and strengthen its international reputation as a destination for nature and cave tourism.
The recognition also provides an opportunity to further promote the distinctive heritage values and tourism products of Phong Nha-Ke Bang and Quang Tri Province, helping expand tourism markets and attract more international visitors, he added.
Dinh Huy Tri, deputy director of the management board, represented Phong Nha-Ke Bang at the awards ceremony.
He said the awards were both an honor and a reminder of the greater responsibility involved in conserving nature and protecting the values of a World Heritage site.
Conservation, he stressed, would remain the foundation for Phong Nha-Ke Bang to pursue sustainable tourism development and maintain its appeal as a nature destination.
On the sidelines of the ceremony, the delegation also introduced images, promotional materials, and tourism products from Phong Nha-Ke Bang and Quang Tri to international delegates, businesses, and tourism organizations.
At this year’s World Travel Awards, Vietnam was also named Asia’s Leading Destination 2026.
Ho Chi Minh City won the titles of Asia’s Leading Business Travel Destination and Asia’s Leading Festival and Event Destination, while Hanoi was named Asia’s Leading Emerging City Destination.
Other Vietnamese winners included the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism as Asia’s Leading City Tourist Board, Ha Long International Cruise Port as Asia’s Leading Cruise Port, and Moc Chau among the destinations honored in the nature tourism category.
Visitor numbers rise more than 150%
Phong Nha-Ke Bang welcomed around 900,000 visitors in the first six months of 2026, up more than 150 percent year-on-year, according to Thai.
At the current growth rate, the park could receive more than one million visitors in 2026, bringing visitor numbers back to the level recorded in 2019, before the tourism sector was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent global disruptions.
Phong Nha-Ke Bang covers 123,326 hectares and is renowned for its distinctive karst landscape, spectacular cave systems, underground rivers, and biodiversity of global significance.
The site was first inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2003 for its geological and geomorphological values.
It received further recognition in 2015 for its ecological and biodiversity values.
In 2025, the World Heritage property was expanded into a transboundary site encompassing Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam and Hin Nam No National Park in Laos.
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