About 3,000 Russia tourists are expected to travel to Da Nang by air a month from March next year, and their average length of stay at local coastal hotels and resorts will be some 10 days. This really demonstrates a positive move taken by the local authorities and the tourism industry in diversifying the city’s foreign tourist source markets and enhancing the quality of locally-offered tourism services.

Promoting foreign tourist market diversity is one of Da Nang’s important measures to head towards the sustainable tourism development. Russian tourists are pictured visiting the city.

The first non-stop charter flight from Russia to Da Nang is set to take off on 26 March 2020, using 336-seat B767-300 aircraft. The news was released by representatives from the Anex Viet Nam, under the Russian travel firm ANEX Tour in Moscow City, during a press conference held in the city on 20 August.

Between March and September next year, the charter flight will carry tourists from one of the 5 Russian localities, including Novosibirsk, Krasnoyask, Irkutsk and Moscow, to the coastal central Vietnamese city every 10 days.

Once operation, the new direct charter flights will bring a monthly average of about 3,000 passengers to the city, and their average length of stay here will be some 10 days.

According to Ms Huynh Thi Huong Lan, the Deputy Director of the municipal Tourism Promotion Centre, last year, the total number of Russian tourists staying in Da Nang reached 5,941, up 49.7% against the same period in 2017.

Russia is now one of Da Nang’s important tourist source markets, along with such others as ASEAN, Northeast Asia, Western Europe and North America.

Ms Lan affirmed that the number of hotels and resorts with high-quality services has increased sharply over recent years, whilst and the quality of locally-developed tourism products have also become more diversified in a bid to lure more Russia tourists.

It is worth praising that, recent times have seen the city’s great efforts in conducting many market promotion activities in a bid to lure more Russians. Included were the reception of famtrip and presstrip delegations from this European country on the occasion of the Da Nang International Fireworks Competition in 2012 and 2013, the coordination with neighbouring Quang Nam Province to welcome a Russian famtrip delegation on the occasion of the Quang Nam Heritage Festival in June 2013, the participation in the Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT) 2016 and the organisation of working sessions with representatives from the Russian Association of Travel Agencies and the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism.

An official from Anex Viet Nam underlined the significance of the soon-to-be-opened non-stop charter service connecting Russia and Da Nang in promoting the bilateral tourism cooperation, diversifying the latter’s international tourist sources, and helping to speed up its economic progress thanks to a big revenue collected from accommodation services.

The tour firm will consider arranging further flights to bring tourists to Da Nang in the wintertime, from November to March, when the weather in the city is pleasant.

Da Nang is currently a popular destination for Russian tourists seeking a relaxing holiday of sunbathing on the beach, in addition to the central cities of Nha Trang and Phan Thiet.

In reality, Russia tourists prefer dining out, shopping and using spa services, which will allow Da Nang to generate more revenue from tourist activities. It is reported that 95% of Russian tourists to Viet Nam over recent years have stayed in 3 to 5 star resorts.

In order to maintain the efficiency of the Russia-Da Nang charter flight and tourism promotion programmes in Russia in a more effective manner, the municipal Department of Tourism plans to advertise the city’s image via social networks and release such publications about Da Nang’s tourism as tourist maps, introduction slides and promotion videos in this European country.

During the 2020 – 2021 period, delegations from Da Nang and the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism will attend MITT events in Russia.

Moreover, heed will be paid to inviting more Russian famtrip and presstrip delegations to Da Nang, hereby allowing them to survey the city’s tourism products and write reviews about this attractive destination, and identifying a representative for Da Nang’s tourism in Russia.