Vietnam a popular New Year destination for Russians

Thailand was the most favored destination by Russian tourists with the number of air ticket bookings accounting for 38.7%, followed by Indonesia (10.9%), Vietnam (10.8%), the Philippines (5.5%) and Turkey (5.1%), Russia Travel Digest newspaper reported, citing OneTwoTrip's data of customer bookings with departures between December 31 and January 8, 2023.

In the first eight months of this year, only 14,600 Russian tourists visited Vietnam, accounting for 1% of total foreign arrivals.

In 2019, the year before the onset of the Covid pandemic, Vietnam received a record 646,000 tourists from Russia, making it the sixth largest tourism source after mainland China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S.

After the Russia-military conflict broke out in February, charter flights from Russia to Vietnam have not resumed.

Currently, Russian tourists only come to Vietnam in small groups. They have to transit in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before taking a flight to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.