Top ten sports, culture, tourism events in 2013
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has selected 10 outstanding events in 2013 as follows:
1. The review of the 15-year implementation of the Resolution of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, eighth tenure, on building an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity.
2. Don Ca Tai Tu (a traditional musical art form of the south) was listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humankind; and for the first time, Vietnam was elected to the World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO.
3. The National Great Solidarity - Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Week; the fifth Quang Nam Heritage Festival 2013, the Ngo boat race of Khmer people in the Mekong delta, the eighth Tay Bac (Northwest) Cultural, Sports and Tourism Festival.
4. The cultural days and weeks celebrating the anniversary of diplomatic ties with other countries and a festival featuring arts of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.
5. Vietnam Year of Family 2013 and the second national conference to honour outstanding cultural families.
6. Achievements of the Vietnamese sports teams at international competitions: Third place among 44 countries and territories at 4th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, third position in the medal tally among 11 participating countries at the 27th SEA Games, seventh place among 45 countries and territories at the second Asian Youth Games, fifth position among 41 countries and territories at the Asian Youth ParaGames.
7. Successful performances of athletes at international tournaments inlcuding swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien with three gold medals and one silver medal at the second Asian Youth Games, and three gold, two silver, one bronze medal, breaking SEA Games records at the 27 SEA Games, gymnast Nguyen Ha Thanh with a gold medal at the Grand Prix Osijek 2013, shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh with the first gold medal for Vietnam at the World Shooting Cup 2013, Le Quang Liem with the World Blitz Chess Championship, badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh with a bronze medal at BWF World Championships.
8. Sports festivals at all levels towards the seventh National Sports Festival in 2014.
9. Vietnam welcomed 7.5 million foreign guests served 3.5 million domestic holiday makers, and earned VND200 trillion (US$9.4 billion) from tourism services, two years ahead of schedule.
10. The National Tourism Year for the Red River Delta-Haiphong 2013, and the international conference on spiritual tourism for sustainable development in 2013.