Ho Chi Minh City and some other provinces in Viet Nam will be joining a programme to showcase their tourism products and services at a major tourism event in Russia next month, the Saigon Times Daily reported.
For the first time HCM City has been joining forces with Da Nang city, Phu Yen, Lam Dong, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces and Viet Nam Airlines to promote their products and services at the annual travel fair called Otdykh Leisure Moscow, slated to take place from September 16 to 19.
Nguyen Bao Anh, Deputy Director of the HCM City Tourism Promotion Centre, said nearly 30 travel firms of HCM City together with those from other localities will be coming to Moscow to drum up their products and look for business partners.
These localities have already attracted large numbers of Russian tourists or are holding potential to woo Russian holidaymakers, particularly in winter.
The event will take place before HCM City welcomes Russian tourists on board the chartered flights arranged by Anh Duong Tourism Company and its partner Pegas Touristik. Currently, these two companies arrange two daily chartered flights for Russians to visit Khanh Hoa province and Phu Quoc Island.
Hoang Thi Phong Thu, Chairwoman of Anh Duong, said her company has leased four counters at the common pavilion of the tourism event in Russia for Viet Nam’s localities.
Thu described Russian travelers’ bookings for winter tours to Viet Nam as fine. The number of chartered flights arranged by Anh Duong is forecast to reach 4-5 a day by the end of this year and the company expects to serve 250,000 visitors this year.
The number of Russian arrivals in Viet Nam still grew well despite drops in visitors from many markets. The figure reached nearly 194,000 in the first half of 2014, up 25.9 percent from a year earlier.
Viet Nam expects to welcome 400,000 Russian tourists this year and 1 million by 2017.