Vietnam: Analysis of Destination 2015 - 2018

Vietnam is in the TOP-10 foreign countries which are visited by Russian tourists. According to the annually published data of Rosstat (the Federal State Statistics Service) and Rostourism, as well as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam, the country was visited by the Russian tourists:

2015 year — 321,000

2016 year — 392,000

2017 year — 512,000

2018 year — 606,637

At the same time, Russia is on the first line among European countries by the number of tourists visiting Vietnam in 2018 (this is two times more than tourists from the UK, France and Germany). 

According to Wu The Binh, the deputy chairman of the Vietnamese Tourist Association, "by 2020 we intend to increase the number of Russians in Vietnam up to a million people." 

Today among the offers of tourist Vietnam are the following places and items: interesting historical and cultural sights (Buddhist temples, palaces of the era of emperors, French colonial mansions, Ho Chi Minh mausoleum), natural attractions (Halong Bay), rich and interesting national cuisine,  traditional crafts (the results of which you can buy as souvenirs), well-developed tourist infrastructure with low prices for services and recreation, a wide variety of leisure activities from a thoughtful acquaintance with the history of the country, when visiting museums and sights, to active water sports on the wonderful white sand beaches. 

But the most popular kind of recreation, as usual in warm countries, is a beach holiday. In the top of the demand among the Russians are resorts of Nha Trang, Phan Thiet and Phu Quoc Island, which cover all categories of tourists: from youth to couples with children. As the tourists themselves say, these resorts, practically, have become the Russian ones. All signs, even road signs, are duplicated in Russian, and only a rare restaurant does not invite visitors by Russian menu and employee, who meet them with the words: "Good evening, try our menu." In addition, tourists from Phu Quoc Island often buy excursions to Cambodia. “We traditionally note a good demand for holidays on the island of Phu Quoc and combined tours with an excursion program in Cambodia,” said Anna Filatovskaya from ICS Travel Group. 

The climate of Vietnam is subtropical. There are no cruel winter and summer, the average temperature is about +25 -27 C, which allows you to relax there almost all year round. 

The preferences of Russians for hotel’s accommodation vary depending on the resort and the category of tourists. Younger tourists or couples without children prefer a budget accommodation (3* - 4* hotels) or an economical option (2* -3* hotels). Families with children and older people prefer to choose hotel accommodation at a higher level (4* +, 5*, 5 Deluxe). As in other countries of Southeast Asia, in Vietnam most hotels offer only breakfast. But in 2018, an All Inclusive concept has appeared in some hotels, which locate far from the center of resorts, or concepts closed to All Inclusive, for example, Full Board + Beverages. 

Simplified visa regime also contributes to the popularity of Vietnam. For a period up to 15 days, a visa is not required - it is enough to provide a return ticket and international passport. If you plan to spend in Vietnam more than 15 days, you can get visa at the airport of arrival. The another reason of increasing demand for holidays in Vietnam is that this country is in the list of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, including civil servants, who are allowed to travel abroad. 

According to participants of the tour operator market, Vietnam is one of the most stable resorts on the Russian tourists market. This is confirmed by both the official statistics and the year-round charter chains to Vietnam from the leading tour operators and the planned growth in charter traffic in the upcoming 2019 season. 

PEGAS Touristik tour operator offers the broadest program in Nha Trang: departures from 38 cities of the Russian Federation. In the winter season, the flights from Moscow are scheduled twice a week (on Wednesdays and Fridays) by B777-200. The duration of the calculated package tours varies from 3 to 28 nights. 

Coral Travel's winter flight program has also been expanded over last year. Flights to Nha Trang are carried out from 16 cities of Russia on the basis of Royal Flight’s charters (Boeing-767) with a frequency once every 10-13 days and will last from 09.08.2018 to 12.05.2019. 

The charter program of Coral Travel operator to Phu Quoc (1 flight 7–11 days) will also be performed by Royal Flight airline (Boeing-767) from 01.09.2018 to 08.05.2019. The tour operator also increased the number of regions with direct flights to Phu Quoc. If last year there were four airports of departure, then in 2019 there are seven - Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. 

ANEX Tour operator has seriously expanded its Vietnamese flight program by the introduction of a new route. In the winter season 2018 – 2019, ANEX Tour represents the following Vietnamese regions - Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Fanrang and Phan Thiet. AZUR air flights to Cam Ranh (Nha Trang) airport are available from 21 cities of Russia, and, for the first time, to Fukuoka from 6 cities (Moscow, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk and Yekaterinburg). The ANEX Tour’s flight program to Phu Quoc is active from October to March 2019, for tours lasting from 10 to 13 nights. 

This configuration of flight programs suggests that the leading players of the destination expect sales growth. 

The rest of players on the destination - Biblio-Globus, Intourist, TUI Russia, ICS Travel Group and others - build their programs to Vietnam on the wings of regular carriers (including Aeroflot and Vietnam Airlines). 

The Vietnamese authorities as well expect the growth of tourists flow from Russia. At the press-conference in Ha Long during ATF 2019 the vice chairman of Ministry of culture, sports and tourism Nguyes Thi Thnh Huong announced a lot of promotion activities in Russia in 2019. This year Vietnam will be represented at coming MITT (Moscow).