The number of Russian holiday makers visiting Viet Nam continued to rise in October while the figures for other major destinations dropped further, according to Russia’s RBK news website.
International tourists visit Ha Noi Capital (Photo: VNA)
The site quoted statistics of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) that showed nearly 24,000 Russian tourists arrived in Viet Nam in October, posting a year-on-year surge of 60 percent.
General Director of Russian tour operator PAKS Vitaliy V.Chizhikov attributed the outcome to the launch of flights from Moscow to Viet Nam in October.
Additionally, from late August to October, Russia’s Aeroflot Airline applied a promotional campaign for flights between Moscow and Ho Chi Minh City.
Accordingly, a round-trip ticket on the route cost only 30,000 RUB (over 452 USD) compared to 45,000 RUB on the Moscow-Bangkok route.
Russia is targeted as one of the key markets of Viet Nam under the country’s tourism development strategy through 2020 with a vision towards 2030.
In 2014, Viet Nam greeted 364,873 Russian visitors, a yearly rise of 22.4 percent. The central Khanh Hoa province led all localities with nearly 270,000 Russian tourists.
Between 2009 and 2013, the number of Russian vacationers to Viet Nam increased 6.8 times from over 29,000 in 2009 to more than 298,000 in 2013, recording an annual average growth of 58.53 percent.
Viet Nam ranked fourth in the top 10 most favourite destinations of Russia, after Egypt, Thailand, and Turkey.