The Park was named "Asia's Leading National Park" and "Vietnam's Leading Nature Destination," reaffirming its appeal and its outstanding natural and biodiversity values.
At the awards ceremony, representatives of the Park’s Management Board introduced international media to the heritage site’s outstanding values, potential and distinctive tourism offerings. Photos and other promotional materials for Phong Nha-Ke Bang and Quang Tri were presented to delegates, businesses and international tourism organizations.
Pham Hong Thai, Director of the Management Board, said the two world travel awards, together with promotional activities in the Maldives, will help promote Quang Tri's tourism and allow the province to connect with international tourism markets.
"After 25 years since it was first recognized as a National Park, Phong Nha-Ke Bang is now well-known across all five continents, contributing to the development of Quang Tri. We must now carry out two strategic tasks: preserving the integrity of the special-use forest’s values, biodiversity, and ecosystems, and at the same time, creating a foundation for promoting the heritage site's outstanding universal values," Thai said.
Phong Nha-Ke Bang spans more than 123,000 hectares and boasts its unique landscapes, magnificent cave system, underground rivers and globally significant biodiversity. It has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List twice: first in 2003 under the geological and geomorphological criteria, and again in 2015 under the ecological and biodiversity criteria.
In 2025, the heritage site was expanded into a transboundary World Heritage Site encompassing Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Laos’s Hin Nam No National Park.
In 2026, Phong Nha-Ke Bang was also recognized as a World Biosphere Reserve, in addition to its designations as a Special National Relic and a provincial-level tourism area.
