This marks the first charter flight carrying Russian tourists back to Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province, since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

Russian tourists are expected to stay in the locality for five nights or more at three to five star hotels, following package tours to popular tourist attractions in Nha Trang.

At present, Anex Vietnam Trading and Tourism Limited Liability Company is the enterprise that designs package tours to bring Russian tourists back to Khanh Hoa.

Accordingly, the firm will resume charter flights connecting 11 Russian cities, namely Moscow, Ekaterinburg, Kabarovsk, Vladivostok, Barnaul, Krasnojarsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Novokuznetsk, and Blagoveschensk, to Cam Ranh International Airport.  

Azu Air is anticipated to run about 12 flights per month from April to June and is likely to increase the figure to between 90 and 100 flights per month from July onwards.

Tran Hoa Nam, vice chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, emphasised that during the peak period before COVID-19 in 2019, Khanh Hoa welcomed more than 460,000 Russian visitors, turning Russia into the locality’s second largest international tourist market after China at that time.

However, the impact of COVID-19 and geopolitical instability has caused the number of tourists from Russia heading to Khanh Hoa to fall sharply to several tens of thousands in 2022 and 2023.

In 2024, the number rebounded with 105,513, doubling that of 2023, and accounting for only 22.8% compared to the pre-pandemic levels.

In the year ahead, Khanh Hoa province aims to welcome 11.8 million tourists, including 5.2 million international visitors, and earn tourism revenue of VND60,000 billion.

Vietnam gains popularity among Russian tourists

VOV.VN - According to online newspaper Russian Travel Digest (Russtd), despite the lack of direct flights to Vietnam, sales of tours to the country for the end of autumn and the New Year holidays have increased significantly compared to last year.