Hoi An was voted the second-best city in the Far East by US Conde Nast Traveler readers. The ranking was based on culture, friendliness, atmosphere, restaurants, lodging and shopping.
The 10 cities under consideration were Kyoto and Tokyo in Japan, Hoi An in Vietnam, Ubud in Indonesia, Luang Prabang in Laos, Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok in Thailand, Hong Kong in China and Siem Reap in Cambodia.
According to the survey of Conde Nast Traveler, visitors to Hoi An "fell in love with ‘the colorful houses and old mansions', which ‘felt like walking in a movieâ€.
Hoi An, recognized by UNESCO in 1999 as a World Cultural Heritage Site, won a rating of 79.9 out of 100, or only 1.7 points behind Kyoto. Its culture scored 87.3, friendliness 84.3, atmosphere 90.9, restaurants 73.1, lodging 80.3 and shopping 68.4.
UN Habitat is the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1978 and has its headquarters at the UN Office at Nairobi, Kenya. It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
Recently, the leading UK travel magazine Wanderlust has declared Hoi An the world's best city destination from a poll contributed by 3000 avid travellers and readers of the magazine. With a 97.18 per cent satisfaction rating, Hoi An was a clear winner, beating the other 976 cities featured in the poll.
The award ceremony for Scenic Cities 2013 will be held by UN Habitat on November 11.