Foreign visitors in Binh Thuan Province. Viet Nam will take measures to lure more Russian visitors to the country. — Photo binhthuan.gov.vn

HCM CITY  (Biz Hub) — The tourism sector will carry out measures to attract more Russian visitors to Viet Nam as there is huge potential for the development of the Russian market, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The Russian market, which has more than 11 million outbound travelers per year, is a major market of the country's tourism sector, said Nguyen Quoc Hung, deputy head of VNAT.

Many more hotels and resorts with a wide range of high-quality services will be built to meet the demand of Russian vacationers who usually spend seven to 14 days for their vacation with high spending, he said at a workshop held yesterday (Sep 11) in HCM City.

Marine tourism products will be diversified to attract Russian vacationers to beaches in Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Phu Quoc, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ninh Thuan, Da Nang, Phu Yen and Quang Nam.

The unrest in Egypt, Spain and Thailand has caused more Russian travelers change their favourite vacation destinations to beaches and resorts in Viet Nam, he added.

Various promotional programmes have also been carried out in Russia.

A delegation led by officials from HCM City's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will take part in the 20th International Trade Fair for Travel & Tourism- OTDYKH Leisure 2014 in Moscow from September 16-19.

The departments of culture, sports and tourism from Ha Noi, Da Nang and HCM City and the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Lam Dong will promote marine resort tourism products to the Russian market at the event.

The Vietnamese delegation will also meet with local partners from Russia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States).

In March next year, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism will lead tourism and travel agencies and enterprises to promote the country's tourism industry at Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (MITT).

The number of Russian tourists rose to 298,000 last year from 174,000 in 2012 and 101,000 in 2011.

In the first eight months of the year, Viet Nam welcomed more than 240,500 Russian tourist arrivals, an increase by 27 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to VNAT. —VNS