Vietnam, Russia promote tourism cooperation

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam (MCST) and the Russia Federal Agency for Tourism (RFAT) inked a cooperation plan for the 2013-2015 period during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s official visit to the Russian Federation.

Accordingly, the two sides will exchange information and experience in promoting tourism, and delegate tourism businesses to attend annual tourism exhibitions in both countries, including the Intourmarket Fair inMoscow in March and International Tourism Exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City in September.

Besides, MCST Deputy Minister Ho Anh Tuan and Head of the RFAT Alexander Radkov met to discuss measures to implement effectively the signed document. 

As planned, Vietnamese and Russian tourism businesses will gather at a forum in Moscow in September and the two countries will rotate the hosting of similar events annually.

Russia will help teach Vietnamese tour guides Russian to better serve Russian visitors during their time in the country. The two sides will support each other in promoting the tourism potential of both countries on mass media.

The number of Russian visitors to Vietnam has increased by approximately 50% annually in the past five years, reaching 176,679 visitors in 2012 and 112,000 in the first four months of this year, a 51% year-on-year rise. This helps Russia top the top ten countries with largest numbers of visitors to Vietnam.