Efforts to restore Russian tourist market

As planned, the two airlines Azur Air and Aeroflot will reopen direct flights from Russia to Cam Ranh in the near future. This is an opportunity for Khanh Hoa tourism to promote and attract tourists from Russia. To promote the recovery of the Russian tourist market, in March, Khanh Hoa province will organize a trip to promote Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourism in Russia.

Clear blue beaches, warm climate all year round and reasonable prices have helped Khanh Hoa tourism attract Russian tourists. At its peak in 2019, Khanh Hoa received nearly 463,000 Russian tourists, accounting for 71.6% of the total number of Russian tourists to Vietnam (646,524 tourists). At that time, Russia was the second largest international tourist market of Khanh Hoa tourism (after China). Not only do they have a large number of visitors, Russian visitors also stay for a long time, bringing in large revenue for the province's tourism industry. At the end of 2021, when the Covid-19 epidemic was basically under control, Russian tourist groups returned to Khanh Hoa under the "vaccine passport" tourism program organized by Anex Vietnam Tourism and Trading Company Limited. However, due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, direct flights from Russia to Khanh Hoa have been suspended since the beginning of 2022. Currently, Russian visitors to Khanh Hoa must transit through a number of countries such as Kazakhstan, China, etc. Due to the lack of direct flights, the number of Russian visitors to Khanh Hoa is still not much. According to the report of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in 2024, Khanh Hoa welcomed more than 105,500 Russian visitors, equal to 22.8% compared to 2019.

Russian visitors will fly directly to Khanh Hoa on Azur Air flights from mid-March.

The potential of the Russian visitor market is huge. Therefore, in recent time, Khanh Hoa tourism industry has made efforts to remove bottlenecks on direct flights to promote the recovery of the Russian visitor market. Aeroflot airline also plans to resume flights from Moscow to Cam Ranh with a frequency of 2 flights/week from March 2025. In particular, Anex Vietnam Travel and Trading Company Limited has coordinated with Azur Air to plan to organize direct flights bringing Russian visitors to Cam Ranh from mid-March 2025. Bui Quoc Dai - Deputy Director of Sales of Anex Vietnam said: “The company will coordinate with Azur Air to organize flights from 11 cities in Russia to Cam Ranh. The expected frequency of flights in March and April will be about 30 - 35 flights/month; from May to June it will increase to 50 - 55 flights/month; from July to September it will operate 70 flights/month. In particular, when entering the winter tourist season (from October 2025), the number of flights can increase to 90 - 100 flights/month”.

The information that Russian airlines will reopen direct flights to Khanh Hoa has made many tourism businesses very excited. Many units have upgraded and redesigned products and tours specifically for Russian tourists. Pham Minh Nhut - Permanent Vice President of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association shared: “Russian tourists usually stay from 7 to 14 days, much longer than Chinese or Korean tourists. Russian tourists also like to visit the sea and islands, experience recreational tourism services such as scuba diving, mud bathing, adventure sports, exploring nature at Orchid Island, Ba Ho Tourist Area, Yang Bay Tourist Park... so the spending level for the trip is quite high. The association has informed the branches and businesses to prepare to welcome a large number of Russian tourists in the coming time”.

To promote the recovery of the Russian tourist market, the province and the tourism industry will step up promotion activities in the Russian market. According to Cung Quynh Anh - Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in addition to the promotion activities of large enterprises, in March, the province will organize a working delegation to the two cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, including organizing a conference to promote Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourism in Moscow. Also within the framework of this trip, Khanh Hoa tourism enterprises will attend the Moscow International Tourism Fair 2025 (one of the 5 largest tourism fairs in the world, held annually since 1994). This is an opportunity for Khanh Hoa tourism to promote and introduce outstanding tourism products and services to Russian travel companies, restoring and expanding the Russian tourist market after the recent difficult period.

According to a research by the Khanh Hoa tourism industry, before the Covid-19 epidemic, Russian visitors to Khanh Hoa spent more than 1,500 USD/person (an average of more than 110 USD/day/guest). Therefore, Khanh Hoa tourism industry is expecting that the reopening of direct flights from Russia by airlines will not only contribute to increasing the number of international visitors to Khanh Hoa province but also contribute greatly to the province's tourism revenue in the coming time. The recovery of the Russian tourist market (along with the Chinese tourist market) will also contribute to balancing the structure of the international tourist market in the whole province.

Xuan Thanh

Translated by T.T