Authorities in the Vietnamese province of Kien Giang said fully vaccinated Russian travelers would be the first to be allowed to come to the island.

Russia will resume flights to Vietnam, India, Finland and Qatar on January 27, 2021, with several flights per week.

Tour operators do not hope that the winter season will go smoothly, since countries, popular among Russians, such as Thailand and Vietnam, do not plan to open in 2020.

Since March 23, Russia has introduced new time restrictions on flights to countries where cases of new coronavirus infection have been identified.

The national air carrier of Vietnam has temporarily suspended services to Russia, France, Malaysia, and Taiwan in response to the spread of the coronavirus and travel restrictions imposed by countries and regions around the world.

Aeroflot reduces the number of flights to China, South Korea, Vietnam and Italy in March due to lower demand from passengers, the company said.

In 2019, 646,5 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation visited the country, which is 6,6% more than in 2018. Russia confidently enters the TOP 5 source markets of Vietnam.

The travel service Tutu.ru analyzed all air tickets, sold from any city in Russia, with travel dates from December 1, 2019 to March 1, 2020 and compiled a rating of destinations that are most popular.

The tour operator Anex Tour announced the opening of sales of a new destination with direct charter transportation in Vietnam - Danang. Charter flights of Azur air will be operated from three cities of Russia.

The National Tourism Administration extended visa-free regime for a number of countries, including Russia. The decision to extend was made in order to increase the inbound tourist flow.

Vietnam is in increasing interest among Russian tourists. Today, the number of requests for the winter in Vietnam is significantly greater than for some other popular Asian markets. One of the reasons is that the leading hotel chains in Vietnam are adapting their services to the wishes of the Russians.

The representatives of tourist retailers reported the information about the most popular destinations of the beginning of the autumn-winter season. Thailand, the UAE and Vietnam became the leaders in the Asian destinations.

The leading winter destinations show a significant increase in sales on the stage of early booking. The growth of the demand in tours to the UAE, Thailand, Vietnam and India is very significant this year.

Analysts from the tourist search resource Aviasales examined airline reservations for 2019 with flights to 185 countries and found out how long, on average, travelers have holidays in certain destinations.

Russian tourists most often buy winter tours on early booking program in Thailand, the UAE and Vietnam. Also the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Cuba are among the leading destinations for Russians in the winter season.

Vietnam is in increasing interest among Russian VIP tourists. Today, the number of premium requests for the winter in Vietnam is significantly greater than for some other popular Asian markets.

Tour operators announced an increase in the number of charter flights and the expansion of the geography of cities of departure to Vietnam.

Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and India are the leaders of the coming winter. For these areas winter sales grew by 1,5 times within early booking program. The early booking of tours for the winter season this year began very early and the interest of tourists in this action is very high

On September 5, 2019, under the framework of ITE HCMC 2019 the Conference on Vietnam - Russia Tourism cooperation was organized at Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC) to introduce and exchange tourism market approaches.

After the gala dinner "Soulful Vietnam" held at the tallest building in Vietnam, Vinpearl Luxury Landmark 81, the 15th International Travel Expo welcomed 315 exhibitors, 40 international hosted media and delegations from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Korea, Japan, China and Russia to discuss new travel trends and perspectives.

ITE HCMC held its first show in 2005 with two international pavilions from Thailand and Cambodia, 43 buyers, and 86 booths. Most of the exhibitors were local enterprises. Today, it has grown to become the largest and most established travel event in Vietnam and the Mekong sub-region. In 2019 more than 350 exhibitors and 30,000 visitors are expected, with 250 international buyers, 50 outbound Vietnamese buyers, and a record number of 40 hosted media. To celebrate its 15th year milestone, the International Travel Expo, Ho Chi Minh City (ITE HCMC) is introducing a bundle of new features and special highlights to make the annual event an even more spectacular one for the expected record-high attendance.

The Vietnamese destination in the winter season of this year will grow. This is evidenced by the plans of two players on the destination - tour operators ANEX Tour and Coral Travel.

Aeroflot and Vietnam Airlines have signed an agreement on the joint operation of domestic and international flights (code-sharing) in Vietnam and Russia. It was reported by the press service of the Russian airline. Code-sharing applies to Aeroflot flights on the following routes: Moscow (Sheremetyevo) - Hanoi / Ho Chi Minh, Moscow (Sheremetyevo) - St. Petersburg, Ufa and Krasnodar; and also on Vietnam Airlines flights on the routes Hanoi - Moscow (Sheremetyevo), Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City - Phu Quoc, Nha Trang. 

Russian Travel Digest asked some questions Mr. Le Thanh Dung, Vietnam Airlines General Manager Russia and CIS, about Russian Travel Market to find out more about their plans and strategy for the coming year.