Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Russian Tourists Diverted From Vietnam's Moscow'
Russian Tourists Diverted From Vietnam's Moscow'
Moscow
Russian tourists stroll through Mui Ne in the central province of Binh Thuan. PHOTO COURTESY O TUO! TRE
Once dubbed Vietnams Moscow due to a predominance of Russian tourists, the central beach town of Mui Ne in Binh Thuan
Proince ma! lose out this !ear to other destinations with easier accesses"
Tuoi Tre #$outh% newspaper &uoted the Binh Thuan 'epartment of (ulture, )ports and Tourism as sa!in* on )unda! that it
welcomed +,,--- Russian tourists this !ear, up .. percent !ear/on/!ear, but the number of tourists has steadil! decreased since the
be*innin* of this !ear"
0ast month ,.,+12 Russians isited the proince, down .3 percent from 4anuar!, the department reported"
N*u!en 'uc Tan, director of 5ocus Trael (ompan!, one of the three main tour operators caterin* to the Russian mar6et, blamed
the decline on a switch to Nha Tran* in the central proince of 7hanh 8oa and Phu 9uoc :sland off the coast of the Me6on* 'elta
proince of 7ien ;ian*"
Russian tourists can now access the two new destinations ia direct charter fli*hts, while to reach Mui Ne, the! must ta6e a fie hour
bus ride from 8o (hi Minh (it!, after spendin* more than ,- hours on a plane, Tan e<plained"
)o, Mui Ne is no lon*er a top choice, he said"
8oan* Thi Phon* Thu, a representatie from the Tur6ish/owned Pe*as Touristi6 (ompan!, which brou*ht oer =2 percent of
Russian tourists to Vietnam last !ear, was &uoted as sa!in* that her compan! plans to shift awa! from Mui Ne this !ear to focus on
Nha Tran* and Phu 9uoc due to their conenience"
>ccordin* to 7hanh 8oas 'epartment of (ulture, )ports and Tourism, bi* trael companies tar*etin* the Russian mar6et, includin*
5ocus Trael and Pe*as, planned to brin* some ,3-,--- Russian tourists to Nha Tran* this !ear, nearl! doublin* last !ears number
of arrials"
N*o Minh (hinh, director of Binh Thuans 'epartment of (ulture, )ports and Tourism, told Tuoi Tre that with chan*es in Pe*as
business plan, local tourism authorities will send a dele*ation to Russia this )eptember to see6 new partners that are interested in
brin*in* Russian tourists to Mui Ne"
Meanwhile, N*u!en Van 7hoa, chairman of the Binh Thuan Tourism >ssociation, said local trael companies will hae to be more
actie in see6in* out new mar6ets"
Trael to ietnam, resorts and hotels will also hae to ad?ust their serices to cater to other tourists instead of proidin* them with
what was customi@ed for Russians, he said"
:n fact, 'irector Tran >nh Thi of The )ailin* Ba! Resort in Mui Ne, said man! businesses will find the ad?ustment difficult, *ien that
man! in town spent the last three or four !ears perfectin* their c!rillic si*na*e and menus"