Many important events will take place in both Viet Nam and Russia Federation in 2016, including various activities celebrating the 20th anniversary of Russia Federation-ASEAN dialogue. Ambassador Konstantin V. Vnukov believed that the cooperative relationship between Viet Nam and Russia Federation, particularly tourism field will be promoted this year.

He informed that, presently all flights from Russia to Egypt and Turkey have been suspended in order to ensure security and safety for Russian citizens, so a large number of Russian tourists to those countries are changing their choices of destinations.

The Ambassador believed that Viet Nam is capable of becoming one of the attractive destinations for Russian tourists who are seeking other international destinations instead of Egypt and Turkey.

Speaking at the working session, Deputy Director General Nguyen Quoc Hung emphasized that the number of Russian tourists to Viet Nam had been rising again in recent months. In the coming time, Viet Nam tourism sector will continue to organize roadshows and host fam trips, presstrips for Russian travel agencies and media to Viet Nam. Besides, Viet Nam Tourism Association will encourage Vietnamese tourism enterprises to create exciting tourism products with competitive price in order to expand cooperation with Russian partners and lure more Russian tourists.

The Ambassador agreed to support Viet Nam to promote tourism in Russia. He also believed that Viet Nam will have opportunity to become a hub for transit travelers in Southeast Asia if visa policy is more convenient. Furthermore, Viet Nam should train more Russian-speaking travel staffs and tour guides to meet the increasing number of Russian tourists.

In the coming time, the Embassy of Russian Federation will work with Ministry of Transportation and VNAT to discuss on launching new flights connecting Viet Nam and Russia to facilitate travel between the two countries.

Thanh Tam