Russia is an important market for Vietnamese tourism and has high
expectations, said Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Travel
Association.
Over the past five years, tourists from Russia
have always been among the leading groups of foreign visitors with the
highest growth of 20-30 percent, according to statistics supplied by the
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).
However, the
number of Russian tourists was still low in 2010 with about 100,000
visitors due to the geographic distance and a lack of promotions.
Tourists
from Russia like the coastal resorts and luxurious relaxing tourist
destinations. On average they also stay longer and spend more, around
1,600-1,700 USD, an annual increase of 50-80 percent, according to
estimates from Vietnam ’s travel agencies.
They are also interested in local products such as clothes, footwear, embroidery work, gemstones, handicrafts and silk.
Bui
Nguyen Tam Dang, Director of Vietravel’s overseas market group, said
that Russia has always been considered a market with huge potential.
In 2010, the number of Russian tourists welcomed by Vietravel rose by
20 percent against the previous years figure.
In Vietnam ,
Phan Thiet and Nha Trang in the central coastal provinces of Binh Thuan
and Khanh Hoa, are the leading destinations in terms of attracting
Russian tourists, said Dang.
Russia ’s airline Vladivostok Air
opened a direct route to Cam Ranh in Khanh Hoa province in late 2010
and could increase the number of Russian visitors to the central coastal
province by 50 percent in 2011, Dang estimated.
Travel agencies
operating in the Russian market say that Winter time is the high season
for Russian travellers. Their counterparts in Russia have also
promoted tours to Southeast Asian nations like Thailand , Indonesia
and Vietnam , instead of Egypt due to unstable political situation.
To
make the most of the opportunity, Vietravel says it is working with
service providers, especially hotels and resorts in Phan Thiet and Nha
Trang to attract more visitors from this promising market.
Localities
with the potential for maritime tourism like Da Nang City and Quang
Nam province in central Vietnam , are looking at ways of
attracting more Russian tourists.
Tran Chi Cuong, Head of the Da
Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Travel Management
Division, said that along with the continued investment in coastal
tourist sites, the city will focus on promotions in Russia in the
future.
Vietnam’s tourism industry will attend the MITT
international tourism fair in March in Russia, and is creating a project
to develop key markets, including Russia./.
