Binh Thuan is said to have been an attractive destination for Russian travelers because the number of Russian tourist arrivals to Binh Thuan has been increasing rapidly in the recent years.
As of November, 2012 Binh Thuan was estimated to welcome more than 2,871,400 turns of visitors, an increase of 11.2% over the same period last year, including about 315,210 turns of overseas visitors, rose by 18% compared to the 2011’s corresponding period. Among foreign visitors from Russia, Germany, China, United Kingdom, the U.S, South Korea, Australia, etc, Russian arrivals made up 47.11%. Because the peak season of winter vacation for Russian tourists to “shelter from harsh winter” is from November onwards. At the same time, Cam Ranh airport has started to receive direct flights from Russia, the number of Russian visitors to Binh Thuan has sharply increased. Currently, Mui Ne-Binh Thuan has gradually become a “Russian village” with a lot of hotels, resorts, restaurants, spa centers, gymnastic centers jointly opened by Vietnamese and Russian investors.
Russian tourists prefer to travel to Binh Thuan mainly because this is an ideal destination where has several high-grade resorts known as “the capital of resorts”, various delicious dishes from fresh seafood at reasonable prices. The climatic conditions here are favorable for water and extreme sports such as: windsurfing, kitesurfing, diving, etc. Moreover, Mui Ne is only 200 km from Tan Son Nhat airport (Ho Chi Minh city) and Cam Ranh airport (Khanh Hoa province).
In current time, Russian tourists staying at Bamboo Village Resorts & Spa are making up more than 60% of our total customers. There are a lot of Russians coming to Mui Ne for recreation and they usually stay here from 7 to 10 days. Several visitors have come and returned to Bamboo Village resort & Spa for 8-9 times. Particularly, some travelers have ever stayed here 18 times. As annual plan, at the end of the year, the resort will organize two special Gala nights to welcome Christmas Eve (in the evening of December 24-) and New Year’s Eve (on December 31 night). On these events, our visitors will join in traditional games, enjoy tasty dishes and impressive performances with Vietnamese traditional songs and dances.
Most of Russian visitors usually arrive and spend long period in Mui Ne. Many of them have returned to Binh Thuan several times. According to Binh Thuan Tourism Association, the total tourism industry is joining hands to strive for the aim “Mui Ne-Binh Thuan- a destination today, tomorrow and forever”. Drawing tourists to Binh Thuan for the first time is a difficult task. But it is more difficult to satisfy and attract them to come back to the locality for recreation and enjoying new experiences. Besides Mui Ne - Binh Thuan, there are a lot of competitively attractive tourist destinations in Ho Chi Minh city, Vung Tau, Nha Trang, Da Lat with each own advantages. Meanwhile, in spite of the fame of “the capital of resorts”, Binh Thuan tourism is still facing many obstacles due to disadvantages in traffic (both road and air traffic). For that reason, the province needs to promote and renew its images by means of organizing international events, as well as attaching special importance to improving service quality.
In recent years, Binh Thuan has hosted a lot of large-scale events such as: the international windsurfing (PWA Worldtour), international sailing festival, 1st Vietnam international hot air balloon fiesta, Mui Ne half-marathon. Otherwise, the provincial authorities have continually upgraded the traditional festivals of the locality such as: Kate festival of the Cham community, Nghinh Ong festival of the Chinese-Vietnamese people, Cau Ngu festival, lantern procession in Mid-Autumn festival, traditional boat race on Ca Ty river in Lunar New Year to be on par with other international festivals. Besides, visitors also contemplate flying sand hills in Mui Ne, Trinh Nu sand hill, Bau Ong and Bau Ba lakes in Hoa Thang commune (Bac Binh district), or the “Lying Buddha statue with more than 40 in length on the top of Ta Cu mountain, various temples and towers of the Cham ethnic minority… In addition, the resorts in Mui Ne often organize many art performances with intangible cultural features of the ethnic groups in the locality. By their own fair hands, visitors can wrap “banh chung”, one of the indispensable traditional meals of Vietnamese families in Lunar New Year.