Ho Chi Minh City and some other provinces in Vietnam 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 Vietnam 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 Vietnam’s
localities.
Thu described Russian travelers’ bookings for winter
tours to Vietnam 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 Vietnam 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.
Vietnam expects to welcome 400,000 Russian tourists this year and 1 million by 2017.-VNA