The administration of Russia's St. Petersburg city on March 3 virtually hosts the second international travel forum with Vietnam to boost tourism between the two sides. (Photo: VNA)The event was attended by a large number of major touroperators from Vietnam and Russia.
Vice Director of the Vietnam National Administration ofTourism Nguyen Le Phuc welcomed the event, saying that the forum will helpboost confidence and recovery of tourism between the two countries since theCOVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to the internationaltravel.
Demyan O. Smilevets, head of the Russian Federal Agency forTourism’s Department for International Cooperation, said Vietnam remains apopular destination among Russian tourists. According to Russia’s Federal StateStatistics Service, about 572,000 Russians visited Vietnam in 2019, up 8percent from the previous year while the number of Vietnamese visitors toRussia rose by 9 percent year-on-year to 59,000.
Russia sees Vietnam as a promising market because of the friendship between the two countries’ people, he said.
He noted that Russia has started issuing e-visas forVietnamese citizens since January 1, 2021 and Vietnamese visitors areallowed to stay in Russia in 16 days. But due to COVID-19, the new policyhas yet to come to reality, he said.
He urged travel agencies from both countries to work togetherto promote safety and convenience to attract more visitors.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Tourism of St.Petersburg Nana M. Gvichia, meanwhile, the number of Vietnamese visitors to the Russian city was only paid 25,000 in 2019 and it is relatively small compared to a population of100 million in Vietnam.
She vowed that St. Petersburg will do its utmost to ensuresafety for all visitors in the face of COVID-19./.
VNA
