8 million visitors flocked to Hanoi, Vietnam

That's for the first 6 months of 2012 alone and the number continues to rise as the city targets 16.5 million tourists by 2015.

In a news release, the Vietnam government reported that Hanoi has attracted about 8.33 million visitors during the first six months of this year according to the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The city, which was recently named as one of the cheapest global tourist destinations for the summer of 2012 by TripAdvisor, attracted over 1.03 million foreign tourists in the first six months, posting a rise of 20% over the same period last year.

The capital city also handled 7.3 million domestic tourists arrive during the first half of the year, seeing a year-on-year increase of 24%.

Foreign arrivals to Hanoi came from over 160 territories and countries including western Europe, North East Asia, Australia and North America amongst others.

The capital city hopes to receive about 2.5 million international and 14 million domestic visitors by 2015 and gain US$2.1 billion in revenue.