Vietnam tourist agency eyes visa waiver for Russians
The Vietnamese tourism administration plans to ask the government to waive entry visas for Russian tourists to remain competitive with Thailand.
Thailand had made a similar move last month and many Russian travel agents had asked Vietnam to do the same, a source at the Vietnam National Tourism Administration said Thursday.
Vietnamese travel agents said the number of Russians tourists had jumped in the last two years due to Vietnam’s attractiveness and also natural disasters and unstable political and social situations in the neighborhood.
VNAT said 13,900 Russians visited the country in the first three months this year, a 42.9 percent increase.
Luu Duc Ke, a senior official in Ben Thanh Tourist Company, said Russian tourists were interested in trans-Vietnam tours and luxury resorts in central Vietnam, adding they could afford luxury accommodation.
The biggest problem was the lack of luxury rooms in such resorts and direct flight routes between the two countries, he said.
Vietnam waives entry visas for people from nine Southeast Asian countries belonging to the ASEAN regional bloc, as well as from South Korea, Japan, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.
By A. Dung - Thanh Nien - April 19, 2007.
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