VietNamNet Bridge – The lack of Russian-speaking travel staff and tour guides is one of the impediments to attracting Russian visitors to the country, heard the Vietnam-Russia Tourism Cooperation and Development Conference in HCMC last week.

Delegates exchange information at the Vietnam-Russia Tourism Cooperation and Development Conference in HCMC on Thursday, Sept 12.

The conference drew strong attention from local enterprises and tourism promotion agencies as the Russian market has developed strongly in recent years.

Nguyen Quoc Hung, deputy general director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said that VNAT is running the 2013-2015 program to attract Russian visitors, targeting 330,000 arrivals in 2015 and one million arrivals before 2020.

Hung introduced many travel promotion programs expected to start rolling in the coming time. Last year, the nation welcomed over 136,000 Russian visitors, up 71% compared to 2011.

Silakova Irina Viktorovna, former deputy mayor of Russia’s Sarato City, said that Russian people are fond of sea, fresh seafood, fruits and massage service in Vietnam. The number of Russian tourists to the nation is expected to rise strongly as Russian firms will develop some tourism and nuclear energy projects in the country in the coming time, meaning more Russians will be coming to implement such projects.

In addition, Russians prefer traveling, she said.

“Russia employees have 20 days off every year besides winter and summer vacations. Many high-income families have strong demands for travel. In the future, the number of tourists will increase as some Russian projects will be developed in Vietnam,” she said.

However, Anh Duong Tourist Company said that there are many challenges in attracting Russian tourists such as airport services and the lack of Russian-speaking tour guides. During the aforesaid conference, many Vietnamese delegates left the event for failing to understand reports in Russian.

Hoang Thi Phong Thu, chairwoman of Anh Duong Tourist Company, partner of Pegas Touristik – a Turkish travel firm based in Russia, said that the company expects to bring one million Russian travelers to Vietnam in 2018.

Pegas Touristik has brought the most Russian tourists to Vietnam. It has plans to bring over 100,000 tourists to the nation with 600 chartered flights this year. Since 2011, the enterprise has brought nearly 200,000 Russian tourists to the country.

Source: SGT