Khanh Hoa prepares to welcome Russian tourists again

Khanh Hoa province, known for the beach town of Nha Trang, plans to welcome back Russia tourists later this month after a long hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Anex Vietnam, a leading Nha Trang-based firm specializing in Vietnam tours for Russian guests, is cooperating with budget airline Vietjet Air to resume flights to bring Russian visitors to the area again from October 25, said CEO Nguyen Duc Tan.

Initially, the firm plans to operate four round-trip flights per week with about 800 passengers. The tourists are expected to stay for one to four weeks at three-to-five-star resorts and hotels, he added.

When Vietnam partly resumed international tourism with its “vaccine passport” program in December 2021, Anex Vietnam brought 6,000 Russia travelers to the coastal province.

Then the Russia-Ukraine conflict that broke out in February 2022 stopped most travel between the two countries.

Pegas Misr Vietnam, an affiliate of Russia’s major tourism agency Pegas Touristik, also plans flights to bring Russian visitors to Khanh Hoa soon.

Russia is the second biggest source market for Khanh Hoa, only after China, said Nguyen Le Thanh, head of the provincial tourism department. In 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the central coastal province hosted 463,000 Russian visitors, or 70% of Russian visitors to Vietnam.

Khanh Hoa’s tourism revenue reached VND10,801 billion ($452.2 million) in the first nine months of the year. The province received 2.12 million travelers in the period, up 342.4% year-on-year, including 155,548 foreigners, exceeding the target by almost 300%.